Pitch Yourself

Pitch Yourself
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Pearson
Education
Pitch
Yourself
Stand out from the CV crowd
with a Personal Elevator Pitch
Bill Faust and Michael Faust
an imprint of
Pearson Education
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____________________________
First published in Great Britain in 2002
Bill Faust and Michael Faust 2002
The rights of Bill Faust and Michael Faust to be identified as Authors of this Work have been
asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 0 273 66171 X
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To Sophie my girlfriend and Brighton Beach.
Bill
Thanks to my wife Kimi and to the lost autumn days
and nights.
Michael
Acknowledgements
The kernel of this book was generated by the positive reaction from those
people who were unexpectedly exposed to the early versions of the Elevator
Pitch. Thank you.
We would also like to thank friends and colleagues who acted as sounding
boards and were kind enough to let us use their life experiences. They
acted as both judge and jury. Without them our words would be poorer.
John Baldwin, Ken Livingstone, Justine Cobb, Mara Goldstein, Nancy
Prendergast, Richard Davies, Jack Gratton, Mark Bailey, Charlie Dobres,
Kate Marsh, Marc Schavemaker, Darren Fell, Louise Medley, Laura
Neilson.
Contents
The rallying cry ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1 The death of the CV
Think and act differently 2

Do you zig or zag? 2
Your sales tool 4
Chopping the corporate structure down to size 21
Chapter 2 The birth of the Elevator Pitch
29
The Personal Promise 33

Transferable Assets 34
Career DNA 35
The Career DNA Bank 37
Chapter 3 Writing your Elevator Pitch
41
Your Personal Promise 43

Defining your Transferable Assets 50
Critiquing your Elevator Pitch 67
vii
CONTENTS
Chapter 4 The benefits of the Elevator Pitch

Flexibility and adaptability 71
Forward looking 72
Establishing rapport 72
Results-driven 73
Dangers of CV Thinking 75
Coping with redundancy 77
The demands of interim management 78
Experience is diverse 79
Work experience versus Transferable Assets 80
Better and more successful interviews 80
Chapter 5 Top-floor Elevator Pitches
87
How the EP answers a job brief 135
Chapter 6 Summary and conclusion

The candidate 143
The recruitment services industry 144
The employer 144
The final rallying cry 146
viii
141
69
The rallying cry
The CV is dead. Long live the CV!

There has to be a better way. The purpose of a CV in my opinion is simply to
get you in front of a prospective employer. It should therefore be short and
sharp without introducing negatives. Thats where the problems start to
arise. You are judged on a piece of paper, which cant portray the real you.
Using the Elevator Pitch technique is a brilliant way to put over your case
quickly and succinctly.
I hope it becomes the industry standard.
Jack Gratton, Founder and CEO of Major Players, the UKs

leading marketing and services recruitment agency
ix
Introduction
Over the last 100 years, the CV has become a standard world currency that
is now debased by the changes in our work patterns and environments.
The CV is dead. The Elevator Pitch takes off where the CV stops. The
Elevator Pitch is the 21st century successor to the CV.
In todays world, you need to constantly market yourself at each and every
point in your career path. You might be a graduate or have 15 years linemanagement experience, or perhaps you are returning to work after a
family career break, or even making a functional change or jumping to a
new industry sector. Each break and renewed step requires you to sell
yourself. Over and over again.
Ask yourself the following questions. Is my CV the hard-hitting sales tool
I think and hope it is? Does a functional, linear and ultimately historical
view of my career sell the real me? Can I see the real me in the words of
my CV? Does my CV really explain what I can deliver in the future and
showcase my abilities?
Unfortunately, the answer is invariably no. The CV is a straitjacket on your
next career move rather than a life jacket. The CV is like a rococo building:
its so rich and opulent that you miss the reason it was built. As a sales tool
it tries to communicate everything. It focuses on the wrong issues as it
begins from the sellers reality rather than the buyers perspective. It is
what you have done and where you have done it. You often forget that a
CV is meant to get you through the door, not do the interview as well. The
xi
INTRODUCTION
CV shrouds your career in the past. It hides your core worth, your ability
to deliver in the future within a new work environment, beneath the
historical and functional faade of your career. Consequently the CV needs
to be deciphered to get underneath this faade yet we do not provide the
key. We allow people to make snap judgements about us based on this
outmoded document. The CV has stood in a time warp for over 100 years
while the world has moved on.
Why write a CV if the CV is dead? Perhaps its down to those 100 years
of convention and tradition. But then you dont give a fig about being
hidebound to tradition, do you? Maybe its time to step back and think
about a better way to show what youve really got to offer.
The Elevator Pitch is the better way. The Elevator Pitch is the 21st century
replacement of the CV. The Elevator Pitch is not about incremental
improvements to a CV. There are many books wed gladly recommend for
that.
Rather, the Elevator Pitch is a fundamental and lateral rethink of what is
required to sell you in todays market. The Elevator Pitch debunks the CV
of its extraneous wrappings and conventional padding by jettisoning the
historical and functional veneer of your career. Instead the Elevator Pitch
focuses on your unique set of behaviours, abilities and skills, sometimes
referred to as competencies, that help define how you will perform in a new
job under a new set of circumstances. The Elevator Pitch demonstrates your
value and worth by showing who you are and how you have done it
The Elevator Pitch focuses on the things your buyer is looking for. It
successfully differentiates you through selective communication. You
control the agenda and the speed at which key information is released
through the negotiating phase. The Elevator Pitch allows you to cut to the
chase. Time is not wasted. The Elevator Pitch provides a common language
of understanding. Effective recruitment decisions will be faster and easier.
The Elevator Pitch is the only sales tool you need, after yourself.
xii
INTRODUCTION
It is focused, highly targeted, concise and proven to work. It is usually just

one page.
The aim of this book is to introduce the Elevator Pitch. You will be
provided with the essential tools to create your own personal Elevator
Pitch. We will show you how to discover and understand your Transferable
Assets: those behaviours, skills and abilities that define and predict your
performance. We then show you how to construct and write your own
personal Elevator Pitch and how to position yourself in an overcrowded
and overcommunicated society.
Welcome to the non-stop, ever-changing world. Welcome to reality.
Welcome to the Elevator Pitch.
xiii
1
chapter
The death of the CV

try to sell, the Elevator Pitch will make employers want
CVs
to buy
Charlie Dobres: CEO of i-Level
PITCH YOURSELF
Think and act differently

When the world zigs, zag is the mantra of the worlds best known and
most fted advertising agencys, BBH, based in London. Their
philosophy is to look at the world from a new vantage point by thinking
and acting differently.
They are not alone. The Onassis oil dynasty, Apple, Warren Buffet,
Virgin, South West Airlines in the USA and easyJet in the UK have all
zagged while the world zigged. Indeed, we also probably all know a
friend or a colleague whom we secretly admire for their ability to zag
when we still zig.
These people, and others like them, have stepped off from the
world, taken a back seat, viewed it from afar, jumbled it into a new
perspective, and then got on ahead of us. Their view of the world helps
frame and change ours. They challenge common assumptions. They
throw normal convention out of the window. They are willing to step
outside their comfort zone. They are willing to be counted. They are
not afraid to push boundaries and question conventional or traditional
wisdom. They have done things differently. They are doing things
differently. They aim to stand out, create value and be successful.
They want to challenge not just for the sake of the challenge but
because there is a better way.
So the question you must ask yourself is simple: do you want to stand
afresh and zag, or do you want to be boring and zig?
Do you zig or zag?

To find out how willing and able you are to zag when others zig, answer
the following questions:
T H E D E AT H O F T H E C V
Do you believe that in our overcommunicated and hectic society,

the key to being noticed is to communicate selectively and not try
to communicate everything?
Do you believe that you buy goods and services, including hiring
people, on both rational (objective) and emotional (subjective)
grounds?
Do you believe that time is only one of the factors that create
emotional and spiritual growth?
Do you want to realize your individual potential rather than simply
fill a job market vacancy?
Are you an individual, not simply a number, within a company
hierarchy?
Do you want to find the job to fit you?
Do you wish to enjoy your career?
Are you loyal and true to yourself rather than waiting for the
company to be loyal to you?
Do you believe that changes in organizations impact on the type of
career you will have?
Do you believe that people searching for vertical ladders in a
horizontal career game will, more often than not, lose?
Do you have a defined view of how your career will start, progress
and continue?
Are you happy with variety?
Are you likely to want several careers, not just one? Do you have
a choice?
Do you want to find a job where the demands of the job fit you, not
one where your job-related knowledge simply matches the job
description?
PITCH YOURSELF
Are you brave enough to sell your future worth rather than relying
on previous achievements?
Do you want the market to buy you?
If you found yourself saying yes youre ready to begin
Your sales tool

What are you using to sell yourself? No doubt its your CV. What does
your CV say about you? If you are not there, what impression does the
reader get? Does it sell you? Would you buy you?
Worryingly we know that despite all your efforts, your CV will look
similar to many others. Few actually stand out. The CV is a straitjacket.
It is normally in reverse chronological order. It is based on function. Its
autobiographical. The CV provides a linear, one-dimensional perspective
to you. It is fact and form. It is rational and safe. It is what you are and
what you have been. It is historical. It is an inventory of your jobs. It is
simply a catalogue.
Lets look at the basic CV structure. Many CVs are similar to those in
Figure 1.1, which shows a simple success story: a career within one
function, such as accountancy or marketing, over a couple of industries,
Would you
buy you?
4
Job
Function
Industry sector
Board director
Function x
Industry B
Director
Function x
Industry A
Manager
Function x
Industry A
Graduate
Function x
Industry A
Most
Reverse
chronology
Least
Hierarchy of emphasis
Figure 1.1
The CV stripped bare
with a steady progression through the job ranks presented in reverse

chronological order. The CV presents and uses criteria such as length of
employment, job title, qualifications, number of people managed, and
budgets managed as prima facie evidence of your capability.
Several of you will have gone a step further. Lets look at the same basic
CV where you have quantified some results. You might also add a career
mission statement. You throw down some good-sounding adjectives from
a thesaurus. You make it rational and logical. You forget that the world
turns on emotions. You take up lots of room describing job roles. You may
even have created several objectiveanalysis actionresult scenarios; you
construct a basic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
analysis on yourself; you pry into your 360-degree assessments; you look
long and hard at your Belbin or Myers Briggs profiles. And after this soul
searching, you include a list of how you made things happen around
yourself. This is shown in Figure 1.2 a familiar sight to many of you.
So you have fine-tuned your CV. You are happy. You have a catalogue of
your career history. Yet too many CVs are wrong. They are wrong for
many reasons.
PITCH YOURSELF
Reverse
chronology
Job
Function
Industry sector
Results
Board director
Function x
Industry B
Results A
Results B
Director
Function x
Industry A
Results A
Results B
Manager
Function x
Industry A
Results A
Results B
Graduate
Function x
Industry A
Results A
Results B
Most
Least
Hierarchy of emphasis
Figure 1.2
The better CV stripped bare
First, basic mistakes are made

A recent survey by FirstPersonGlobal, the UKs leading online
executive recruitment service dedicated to technology professionals,
and part of Harvey Nash, looked at 200 CVs submitted in response to
two separate Harvey Nash recruitment campaigns, one searching for
an IT director for a financial services company and the other searching for a marketing director for an Internet company. Each CV was
reviewed against four criteria: readability, impression, page length
and relevance.
Amazingly, 31% of these CVs made so many basic mistakes that they
were considered poor and only 19% of all the CVs submitted made no
competencies
your future
6
mistakes. Just over four out of every ten CVs had issues with structure
and therefore understanding, and nearly one-quarter were over three
pages long, putting undue pressure on the reader. Crucially 34% of the
CVs could not answer the question, what does this person actually do
and where have they done it? And 23% showed evidence of incorrectly
prioritizing less relevant information.
So one in three CVs could not answer what this person does, and over
one in five could not prioritize correctly. You could say that this is a
pretty sad state of affairs. This research is not an isolated example. You
probably know of some more. You have probably seen it on CVs you
have seen when recruiting. You can therefore conclude that many CVs,
and potentially yours, do not even do the basic job expected of them.
Second, and worse, the CV actually hides what you are selling
Behind the results you have just added to your CV lie the traits and
behaviours that enabled you to deliver these results successfully in the
first place. These are your competencies. Results dont evidence the
role you were in, but they do evidence your competencies within a
given context. In other words, competencies really define your future
worth and capability, as they are your fundamental building blocks.
Competencies aid understanding of the behaviour patterns that make
really define
worth and
capability
7
PITCH YOURSELF
an individual successful in a given environment. Understanding your

own competencies allows you to answer the questions, Who am I?
and Why am I who I am? Competencies have existed ever since man
first walked the earth. Why is one person a better hunter than another?
What made this person the leader during a crisis and their adversary a
leader during a period of consolidation? What made Shackleton inspirational to his lost men? What drives entrepreneurs? Why do some
people take risk? What makes a great teacher? Why do mountaineers
continually push themselves?
The CV is not good at showcasing competencies. Your CV hides your
fundamental building blocks behind a criteria-based chronological
faade. This is shown in Figure 1.3.
So, a criteria-based CV shows what you have done and where you have
done it, rather than who you are and how you have done it. Look at
Figure 1.4, which illustrates the flawed CV.
Job
Function
Results
Competencies
Competency 1
Competency 2
3
4
5
6
Board director
Function x
Industry B
Results A
Results B
Director
Function x
Industry A
Results C
Results D
Manager
Function x
Industry A
Results E
Results F
Graduate
Function x
Industry A
Results G
Results H
What you expose to the world

(What you write on your CV)
Figure 1.3
Industry sector
The errant CV
What you hide from the world

(What you do not write on your CV)
Third, CVs arent customer friendly

Lets place ourselves in our customers shoes. What are you selling?
What are they buying? How do you bridge the gap to establish
common ground?
Funky Business, a treatise on our new world order of funk has this
rallying cry
The moral: what companies sell and what their customers buy are two
different
things. Therefore, every once in a while it is wise to place yourself
in the shoes of your customers and ask the question: What are they really
buying? The answer, 99 times out of 100, is not what you think you are
selling.
Recruitment agencies are one of your many customer bases. Whether

you like it or not, recruitment companies work for the employer and
not the employee. Indeed, there is a fundamental conflict between
the recruitment industrys imperative to fill vacancies and the need
by candidates to take control of their careers. Recruitment agencies fit
people into jobs not find jobs for people.
The aim of the recruitment process is to minimize the risk of hiring
rather than maximize the opportunity for the employer and successful
applicant. Risk is minimized by using two broad filters, criteria
What you expose to the world
Functional, criteria-led, linear catalogue

What you are
Where you have been
What you have done
Figure 1.4
What you hide from the world
Your fundamental building blocks competencies

Who you are
Why you are who you are
How you have done it
Why you can do it again
The flawed CV
PITCH YOURSELF
recruitment
for the employer
(schooling, qualifications, time in job, number of people managed )
and competencies.
Think about this for a short while and your own experience of the
recruitment process. Which is more important and which is easier to
acquire? Surely it would make sense to hire for core motivation and
traits first and foremost, as these are more difficult to acquire than
skills and knowledge? Absolutely.
So why do so many companies appear to do the reverse, and why do so
many recruitment companies not advise them any better? It might be
down to the way recruitment takes place. Many of us have probably
been through a relatively unstructured recruitment process, where
discussions have meandered and you have never got past talking superficially about yourself. In this instance, you have probably gone no
deeper than the criteria signposted on your CV.
On other occasions, you will have read an ad, met the recruitment
consultant, seen the brief, and undergone a structured interview. The goal
of a competency-based structured interview is to estimate what people
will do under a given set of circumstances and to determine what skills
and attributes they will bring to the position. This is achieved by encouraging the interviewee, you, to share examples of your past behaviour and
describe how this experience can be applied to future situations. This also
10
companies work
and not
the employee
places an onus on the interviewer to be prepared and understand what
competencies they are seeking and so increase the chance of a great
hiring. Competencies form a common language that helps reinforce a
companys culture and helps you establish whether you like the company.
During the interview you share a number of experiences until you
unlock the hidden depths of your career as though you were peeling the
layers from an onion. You go past the criteria based functional and
historical veneer of your CV to showcase your base motives, traits and
competencies. You can only do this because the interviewer, through
their questioning, probes aspects of your behaviour and so provides the
key to decipher your CV and therefore gain an understanding of what
makes you tick. They are wanting to know the value you will add to
their company in the future.
Your CV needs to be deciphered to showcase your career and your
future value. Your CV can only be deciphered through a structured
competency based interview. What happens when you are confronted
by an unstructured interview? Why do you lock your career into the
straitjacket of a CV? Why are you hiding your competencies behind the
traditional CV faade and veneer? Why are you missing out on a huge
opportunity to gain an advantage? What happens when you are not
there to guide the recruitment agency, say at the shortlisting stage?
11
PITCH YOURSELF
The initial gatekeeping decision to shortlist you appears to be based

around your criteria and not your competencies. This might have
something to do with time and tradition. Criteria have existed for
hundreds of years and have been codified by the CV in the last 100
years. Similarly, competencies have been around for hundreds of years
yet only codified since the mid 1990s. You might say that you use a CV
because everyone else does. Just because it has been done this way for
so long does not mean it must be good. Just because something is
familiar, tried and tested, and therefore understood within a certain
context and accepted by certain people, does not necessarily mean it
fulfils the many diverse needs or demands placed upon it. Tradition is
not always correct. There is a constant flow of new ideas. Our written
and spoken language does not stay static. It changes. The Swiss army
knife has given way to the Leatherman. The Hoover has given way to
the Dyson. The Filofax has been replaced by the Palm Pilot. The desk
diary has been replaced by Microsoft Outlook.
The reality is that competencies are often used in hiring. Using competencies ensures that better hiring decisions are made. The competencies that are analyzed are defined by the organizations competency
matrix. The problem is that CVs dont highlight competencies, so shortlisting, the critical start to any job, remains the most inaccurate part of
the recruitment process. But you can improve the shortlisting process.
because it has
this way for
mean it must
12
Jim Bright and Joanne Earl are two prominent organizational psychologists, based in Australia, who consult and write extensively on career
development, selection, testing and training. Their recent book is a
culmination of years of dedicated research into what makes a winning
candidate and CV based on interviews with hundreds of recruiters
across a wide industry spectrum. One of the areas they looked at was
the inclusion and exclusion of competency statements, and how this
impacted on the decision by these recruiters to shortlist and interview
a candidate. The results were startling and also consistent:
[We] were amazed to find that, when we included them [competency
statements]
they boosted our candidates chances by as much as 30 per
cent The more competency statements you put on the more chance you
have of being short listed
Conclusive and concrete evidence that competency statements provided

at an early stage in the recruitment process, i.e. before shortlisting even
begins, make a real difference. The difference between a yes vote and a
no vote. The difference in shortlisting. The difference between an
interview and no interview. The difference between landing a new job
and returning to your existing one. The difference in being noticed.
Weve established that CVs lack focus. They concentrate on criteria
rather than competencies. However, the interview process focuses on
been done
so long does not
be good
13
PITCH YOURSELF
both criteria and competencies. At some stage, there is a change in

emphasis from criteria to competencies. But you are currently letting
other people work this transition out for you. Figure 1.5 illustrates this
contradiction. The wider the shaded area, the greater the emphasis.
We can illustrate this point further and the difference between criteria
and competencies by considering the lonely hearts pages found in
newspapers and magazines (Figure 1.6).
Both the CV and the lonely hearts ads are trying to be alluring and sell
the benefits of you to another person. Both are laid out in a familiar and
unique format, both carry stock phrases and both are a suggested
Emphasis your prospective employer

places on criteria and competencies
length.
Criteria based
measures
Competency
based
measures
On your CV
During an interview
CV
Advertisement
Recruitment agency
Job description/brief
Interview
How you present yourself
Figure 1.5
14
The CVs emphasis is flawed
Figure 1.6
The CV is a lonely heart
Think of some lonely hearts ads. If youve never looked at one, grab a
newspaper and analyze them carefully. Our guess is that over 80% of
them describe only the physical characteristics of the person sought.
They might say, Tall, dark and handsome educated man sought by,
Latin, well-travelled female who is into walks in the country and
15
PITCH YOURSELF
cinema. It doesnt exactly help you understand her emotional makeup, the character of the person she would like to meet, or why they
might actually have a bright future. Think back to your CV.
The well-travelled, Latin female is equivalent to the top part
of a CV, where many people include a number of adjectives describing
themselves, such as, professional salesperson with ten years
experience managing clients across international borders. The tall,
dark, handsome section is the equivalent of your own criteria-based
historical catalogue of your career (Figure 1.7). Where do you attempt
to explain what makes you tick and why you would be a good fit for
a company?
CVs are also unfocused in their overall message. CVs need to be more
relevant, pertinent and accessible.
CV
Lonely hearts
Format
Ad to sell yourself
Ad to sell yourself
Length
23 pages
1016 lines
Focus on what you want
Career mission statement
Criteria (wanted: tall,

dark, handsome )
Focus on what you are
Adjectives describing
yourself (professional)
salesperson with ten
years experience
managing clients )
Criteria-based career
catalogue (company X
for five years, rising to
junior sales assistant )
Criteria (sought by: curvy,
Figure 1.7
16
CV versus lonely hearts
petite female )
The CV is a blunderbuss (Figure 1.8). The CV throws mud at a wall,

hoping some will stick. However, mud flinging is a fine art. Just
because more mud is thrown at a given wall does not mean that a
greater proportion sticks (Figure 1.9). The CV is too generic to
communicate well.
Think back to FirstPersonGlobals research. They want you to provide
the answer to their questions, What does this person do or offer me?
Where is their value add? They want this answered, rightly or wrongly,
in a fast and furious (and generous) 90 seconds, without you being
there. Think about what this means for you. The onus is on you to
communicate not then to understand. In order to communicate you
need to provide pertinent, relevant and accessible information. In other
words you need to be selective in how you describe yourself.
Potential employers
Spotlights all information

No focus
No real thought as to
what is needed
You
Figure 1.8
You the blunderbuss
17
PITCH YOURSELF
What you are
Adjectives
What you have done

Where you have been
Historical CV
Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
Job 4
Job 5
All things to all people not on message

One-way communication
Job move, industry change

Job move, culture change
Job move, functional change
Job move, horizontal change
Job move, vertical change
Returning to work
Interim management
Graduate, new career
Self-employed project teams
Figure 1.9
Mud thrown some will stick
Every product sold has an angle or positioning in the marketplace. This

is the most motivating and differentiating thing a manufacturer can
say about the product. By its very nature, it cannot be all things to all
people. The angle can be unearthed from one of many sources.
Product characteristics, e.g. ingredients, texture, availability, country
of origin.
User characteristics, e.g. experts use it, celebrities use it, competent
DIY-ers use it.
Ways of using the product, e.g. sharing, indulgence, giving.
Price characteristics, e.g. value, price, cheap, expensive.
Image characteristics, e.g. being friendly, offering quality, being
serious.
Product heritage, e.g. established in, matured since.
Direct comparison, e.g. the Coke/Pepsi challenge.
18
Newsworthiness shown by topical anniversaries.

And many more category areas.
Youll notice that some of the sources of positioning can be rational,
whereas others are much more emotional, richer and more resonant.
Try and think about some of your favourite brands and what they stand
for. Its relatively easy for the big global brands but what about the tea
you are drinking, the biscuits you are eating, the batteries in your
torch, the pen you are writing with, the computer you are using, the
watch you are wearing, the chocolates you shared at a dinner party,
your kitchen cleaner, your toothpaste, your favourite fizzy drink, the
mobile phone shop, your favourite website to the jacket you
are wearing?
You can probably think of a catchphrase or strapline for many of these
brands or at least a collection of sentences that sum up what they are.
But, most importantly, whatever the words, they will have a meaning
that is relevant, accessible and personal to you.
So positioning satisfies a consumer need as it addresses why a brand
is relevant for that consumer. At the heart of positioning is selective
communication. Positioning is customer-centric not supplier-centric.
Positioning is the bottom rung on a Maslowian hierarchy of communication needs. Correct positioning identifies the core dimensions of relevance and prioritization leading to understanding and
comprehension.
How often have you written your CV from your perspective rather than
from your customers perspective? When did you last ask yourself what
constitutes relevant information? What does my potential employer
want to know about me? Weve seen that criteria are important but not
that important. Should criteria or competencies form your positioning
or angle? Why did you write a CV if you had no angle?
19
PITCH YOURSELF
We have seen that CVs are flawed. The first flaw arises because they do
not focus on the buyer or answer their needs for relevant, succinct
and pertinent information. A catalogue is not a dialogue and lacks
engagement. Less is more. A CV is like a rococo building there is too
much to take in and the wood is obscured by the trees. The second
flaw is the emphasis on criteria rather than competencies, which is
related to the third flaw: CVs are not customer friendly. Competencies
aid the recruitment process. They increase the chance of you being
shortlisted. They improve the interview process by examining how you
have coped in the past to describe how your experiences can be applied
to the future. Competencies increase the likelihood of you being
hired as they help unearth what makes you tick and why you are a good
fit for the organization. A criteria-based CV therefore needs to be
deciphered. Deciphering is an inexact science. You rely on a third party
to break the code. Recruitment agencies may get it wrong when
making value judgements about you based on less relevant information. They will make these value judgements quickly yet you have
provided a catalogue of information that is not focused on their needs.
The CV is under a barrage of consistent attack. However, the biggest
force toppling the apparent ubiquity of the CV is the changing
corporate landscape.
criteria are
but not
20
Chopping the corporate structure down to size

The Man from the Pru, the blue-suited IBM sales man and the Japanese salaryman evoke the era of the company man working within
a pyramid-shaped, hierarchical organization. These command-andcontrol structures relied for their success on recruiting specialist
functional knowledge into defined silos. There was an emphasis on
long-term employment, time in a position was important, knowledge
rested within the company and there were clear rules for performance.
Careers were essentially vertical as well as defined and delivered
through the company.
This organizational structure of time lines, functions and vertical
progressions moulded your career. Your CV unsurprisingly mirrors this
current organizational structure which in turn mirrors the structure
and shape of many recruitment agencies with functional and industryled silos of expertise. All this changes in a new world of exploding
organizational change.
There is a healthy academic debate on the actual breadth, depth and
speed of organizational change. This in turn affects career patterns, the
nature and scope of management, and the skills and abilities required
for the future. However, one thing is not debatable. Change is
happening and it has been happening for the last 30 years.
important
that important
21
PITCH YOURSELF
We are seeing the erosion and breakdown of this predominant

corporate hegemony, albeit earlier in some industries than others,
coupled with the rise of the individual or intelligent career, in
response to a more flexible, decentralized, increasingly virtual, matrix
organization. A process that began slowly and predominantly in the
early 1970s with the economic slowdown has precipitated into a
seismic shift, compounded by the dot.com bubble and reinforced by
the recent 21st century global slowdown and the likely impact of
technology.
The relevance and usefulness of the command-and-control organization is being challenged. Organizational boundaries are constantly
being redrawn in an ebb and flow as organizations seek to drive
competitive advantage, manage uncertainty, deliver the promised
upside from technology and find their feet in a global economy. The
world has been re-engineered, restructured, merged, consolidated,
networked, matrixed, downsized and de-layered. Thinner and flatter
organizations emerge that lack the formal ties of hierarchy, functional
specialists and job titles. New organizational models based on virtual
companies with virtual teams, existing only in cyberspace, irrespective
new-style
need managers
capable of learning
22
of time, space and location, not practicably conceivable several decades

ago, could turn into the paradigm of the future.
But lets not get carried away. The world is never an open-and-shut case
of black and white. Rather, there are myriad shades of shifting grey.
Today, the organizational landscape is littered with varying organizational structures adapting to their market niches. A continuum of
organizational structures now exists, sometimes coexisting at the same
time, with extremes at either end. We see this range from traditional
command-and-control centralized organizations with the emphasis on
capital allocation, clear demarcation lines and agreements with other
companies, to the flexible, decentralized team-based organizational
models emphasizing networked relationships across a flexible matrix
with the emphasis on individuals having knowledge, taking action
and doing the right thing. However, the fragmentation and erosion of
organizational structures changes the way your career will evolve
and happen.
These new-style organizations will need managers who are flexible,
capable of learning and displaying new skills for the performance of a
organizations will
who are flexible,
and displaying
new skills
23
PITCH YOURSELF
wide range of changing tasks. Changes in managers careers therefore

come from changes in organizations. This in turn leads to new theories
on managerial action, where there is far greater autonomy and fewer
directives than in the old bureaucracy. You will need to learn and adapt
rather than simply perform and execute. Competencies and internal
motivations become more crucial as boundaries evolve.
Iain Herbertson, CEO of Manpower UK, the worlds biggest employment
agency, put it like this in a recent BBC Radio 4 interview:
For everyone to recognize that in todays world all of us need to keep
refreshing
our skills and picking up training so that we are best equipped,
we have transferable skills so that we can take advantage of new work
opportunities that occur that reflects some of the changes in the
employment patterns taking place.
What you do, when you do it, with whom you work, how you work, and
where you do it are all changing into a complex web of multiple relationships. People are now managing their careers actively. Career variety is
part and parcel of the career landscape and not necessarily within the
same company. Indeed, it is generally accepted that we will now have
several careers. Fuzzy and flexible working patterns proliferate, vertical
career paths can replace horizontal ones probably crossing lines, project
Your CV belongs
obsolete corporate
24
teams replace functional teams, flexibility and agility are key dynamics,
multiple skills are required to navigate around, loyalty to the company
declines and the individual owns their career. Specialist knowledge
becomes less important than the ability to get things done.
As your career is owned by you and is less dependent on an organization to execute it, you need to ask yourself, What drives me? What
is my ideal job? Which skills and relationships are most important?
This shift begins with looking at whats available so you can find the
job to fit you rather than fit yourself to the job.
As organizational boundaries change, the nature and types of careers
that are possible change. As careers change, shouldnt you consider
how you sell yourself to make the best opportunity of this new-world
paradigm? And, as there is an increasing reliance on individual
learning, adaptation and competencies, then surely a criteria-based,
functional, linear CV is the wrong document? Your CV belongs to the
days of those obsolete corporate monoliths that are crumbling and
changing around you.
You need to look at the organizational models of today and see how
they are responding to the future. You need to respond and be in tune
with the changing workplace.
to the days of those

monoliths that
are crumbling
25
PITCH YOURSELF
Dont try and solve the issues you have writing a CV as you are
correcting a fundamentally flawed document. Rather than focus on
criteria and the linear past, you now need to consider your future
capability in a non-linear dynamic world and how you prove this to
others: this is where the Elevator Pitch comes in.
Welcome to the Elevator Pitch.
26
2
chapter
The birth of the

Elevator Pitch
try to sell, the Elevator Pitch will make employers want to
CVs
buy.
Charlie Dobres, CEO of i-Level
29
PITCH YOURSELF
The Elevator Pitch

who you are and
The Elevator Pitch is the new and improved way to summarize your
career and work experience so that better and faster hiring decisions
can be made. In this chapter we focus on defining the distinct elements
of the Elevator Pitch and in Chapter 3 we will show you how to write
your own Elevator Pitch.
A traditional CV emphasizes criteria such as job title to employment
history in order to place a value on your career. A CV concentrates on
what you are and where you have done it. They are linear static
Answers what and where

CV begins here
by placing
importance on
these attributes
Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
Job 4
Job 5
Function
Industry
Results
Competencies
Elevator Pitch begins

here by placing
importance on these
competencies as
evidenced by your
achievements
Answers how and who
CV sell
Figure 2.1
30
EP buy
The correct starting point
T H E B I R T H O F T H E E L E V AT O R P I T C H
concentrates on
why you are
who you are
documents written in reverse chronological order. In the last chapter
we saw that CVs are fatally flawed. The inherent weakness of your CV
restricts your ability to find the best job as the real reason for
employing you is hidden. Your information is not correctly prioritized
and you fail to answer why you would be a great employee.
On the other hand an Elevator Pitch begins with your behaviours,
skills, traits and abilities that define and help predict how you will
perform in the future. An Elevator Pitch does not need to be
deciphered. Your Elevator Pitch focuses on who you are and how you
do it. Your Elevator Pitch is dynamic and non linear. Your Elevator
Pitch will be concise, relevant and targeted. Your Elevator Pitch only
highlights the information necessary to help you secure your next job
allowing your prospective employer to quickly and easily answer the
question What does this person do or offer me? What is their value
add? This give you a better chance of securing a place on the shortlist
and therefore a job.
Figure 2.1 neatly captures this new perspective and starting point: the
correct starting point of an Elevator Pitch and the wrong starting point
of a CV.
31
PITCH YOURSELF
What you are
What you
have done
Where you
have done it
CV
Your Elevator
Pitch
Contact
details
Contact
details
Adjectives
Personal
Promise
Who you are

How you do it
What you do
Linear career history

Criteria based
Function
Results
Competencies
Results
Non linear
Dynamic
How you do it
How you can
do it again
Career
biography
Figure 2.2
Highlighting the big difference
There are four core elements to your Elevator Pitch,

Personal details. Name, contact details including your e-mail
address and international dialling codes.
Your Personal Promise. Think of this as your own executive
summary, based on the three core components of who you are,
how you do it and what you do.
Your Transferable Assets. These are your competencies, behaviours, traits and abilities that are relevant to the job you are
Competencies
themselves in you
32
applying for. Your achievements are used as evidence of your skill

in that particular competency
Short career biography. A list of the companies you have worked for,
positions held and length of service.
Figure 2.2 shows the differences between a CV and your Elevator Pitch.
The Personal Promise

The Personal Promise is your executive summary. It replaces the list of
unstructured adjectives that many people include on a CV. If you have
ever reviewed several CVs, these adjectives become meaningless as
everyone uses stock phrases. Your Personal Promise has three key
components.
Who you are
How you do it
What you do
In Chapter 5, you will find a number of Elevator Pitches. From these,
two Personal Promises have been highlighted as they provide good
examples of tackling the three components in a couple of sentences.
I bring zest for life to my work making ideas happen. 14 years of practical,
integrated
marketing ideas generation for both clients and advertising
agencies across the world.
manifest
and are hard
to imitate
33
PITCH YOURSELF
Customer-focused, intelligent risk taker. Direction setter of inventive

solutions
with the willingness to absorb situations and get on with it. 28
years leadership of multimillion-dollar mechanical engineering projects in
the international oil industry.
The Personal Promise is similar to a strapline in a magazine: easy to

take in and very easily understood. The Personal Promise sets the tone
and style of the Elevator Pitch. It is an umbrella statement that the rest
of your Elevator Pitch sets out to prove.
Transferable Assets
Transferable Assets are your fiduciary currency. Just as a bank note
promises to pay the bearer a certain sum in the future, your Transferable Assets are your tokens that guarantee the promise of your
future contribution and value.
A Transferable Asset is a competency that you are skilled in. A competency is what you are good at. More importantly, they are what you are
better at than other people, so they have a degree of relative and absolute
measure. A competency is one aspect of your make-up, your underlying motives and traits that differentiate outstanding from typical
performance. Competencies give you a source of differentiation and
generate distinct value and benefits. Competencies manifest themselves
in you and are hard to imitate.
Competencies focus on how you do a job and the way you do it rather
than what you do. They describe the underlying characteristics that
enable you to perform better in your role and go beyond the traditional
focus of your qualifications, technical skills and experience. Competencies are observable and measurable. Some competencies are easy to
pick up, while others are difficult to learn and some cannot be acquired.
34
The key is to discover the ones you have, the ones that you are developing, and the ones that are sitting on the horizon. In this way, you will
see the progression of the early behaviours that form a competency.
To understand and get to grips with your Transferable Assets you need
to quantify their quality. This quantification process can be absolute,
relative or perceived. It also needs to be objective and ideally benchmarked against norms. In Chapter 3, we show you in detail how to
define your own Transferable Assets.
You can also be skilled, unskilled or overskilled in your use of each competency. The word skill refers to your degree of ability or capability. If you
have demonstrated a competency just once, then it is unlikely that you are
skilled in that area, so you cannot claim it is one of your Transferable
Assets. Conversely, one can become overskilled or over-reliant in the use
of one competency, which negates the upside of using the competency.
We can merely scratch the surface of competencies in this book. There is
a wealth of data on competencies. If you type the word competency into
a good search engine, youll find hundreds and thousands of references.
Hay McBer and Lominger are the leaders of this field and their websites
are good starting points: www.lominger.com; www.haygroup.com. Happy
hunting.
Your Transferable Assets define you. They are you. They are your
essential building blocks. Your Transferable Assets form your
Career DNA.
Career DNA
Your Career DNA sets you apart from all other individuals and gives
you your own Career DNA fingerprint that is easily identifiable.
However, unlike biological DNA, your Career DNA expands as you
35
PITCH YOURSELF
experience new roles, dynamics, cultures, events and tasks within the
workplace and social environment.
When constructing your Elevator Pitch you need to pick and select the
relevant and most pertinent Transferable Assets to suit the project
youre facing. This is fairly similar to your own biological DNA, when
certain parts of the genetic code are switched on and other parts
switched off to form specialized cells most suited to the task in hand.
Competencies also help you understand the type of organization and
culture where you thrive best as a companys culture is defined by the
people it employs.
Through placing emphasis on competencies, you redress the recruitment
balance (Figures 2.3 and 2.4).
The Elevator Pitch reverses the CV (Figure 2.5).
Emphasis your prospective

employer should place on
criteria and competencies
Competency
based
measures
Criteria-based
measures
CV
Advertisement
Recruitment agency
Job description/brief
Interview
How you should present yourself on
your EP and during an interview
Figure 2.3
36
The Elevator Pitch redresses the balance
Executive
summary
Your Personal
Promise
Transferable
Asset
Results
Job
Industry
sector
Career history
Transferable
Asset 1
Results A
Results B
Job 4
Job 3
Industry B
Industry B
Transferable
Asset 2
Results C
Results D
Job 3
Job 2
Industry B
Industry A
Chronological
job history
Transferable
Asset 3
Results E
Results F
Job 4
Job 4
Industry B
Industry B
Functional
growth
Transferable
Asset 4
Results G
Results H
Hierarchy of emphasis of what you expose to the world
Figure 2.4
The Elevator Pitch framework
Hierarchy of emphasis of what you expose to the world
Your fundamental building blocks

Who you are
Why you are who you are
How you do it
Why you can do it again
Figure 2.5
Functional, criteria-led, linear catalogue

What you are
Where you have been
What you have done
The brilliant Elevator Pitch principle
The Career DNA Bank

You will discover you have many Transferable Assets. You will use a
selection of your Transferable Assets on each Elevator Pitch you write.
You need a quick and easy way to refer to your Transferable Assets so
you can pick and choose the best ones for the job you are applying for.
We have called this your Career DNA Bank.
Essentially you should think of your Career DNA Bank as a toolkit. A
Career DNA Bank is a repository of your Transferable Assets. These
Transferable Assets can be either deposited or withdrawn at will to target
a specific industry or role fully maximizing your potential.
37
PITCH YOURSELF
A Career DNA Bank is good allowing you to make bespoke Elevator

Pitches. How often have you done this in the past with your CV? Not
much is our guess, as the level of tailoring is pretty limited with a timeline, criteria-based CV. However Transferable Assets can be presented
in a much more dynamic and fluid manner adjusting to your needs. The
results-driven evidence that supports each Transferable Asset can be
displayed in a number of ways and different evidence can be used to
support variations in the overall Transferable Asset.
Transferable Assets can be grouped into four clusters: job-specific,
people-specific,
function-specific
and
behaviour-specific
assets
Your Career DNA Bank
(Figure 2.6).
Competencies
Examples
People-specific
Works the matrix, persuasive, inspirational manager,

cares about direct reports
Job-specific
Function-specific
Behaviour-specific
Figure 2.6
38
Understands role within organization, robust analytical

skills, customer segmentation, articulate spokesperson,
works hard, plays hard
Understands what goes on around the organization,
fiscally, legally, operations, external ventures
Emotional IQ, sets correct targets, results-driven, long-range
thinking, stands alone and challenges convention, intellectually
sharp and agile, picks up concepts easily
Your Career DNA Bank
Personal Promise
Transferable Asset 1
Career history
Two-way feedback on message all the time

Contact details

Returning to work
Interim management
Match Transferable Assets to opportunity using

Career DNA Bank containing Transferable Assets
Figure 2.7
Mud thrown is lost ground the importance of the message
Figure 2.7 shows the elements of an Elevator Pitch.

The Elevator Pitch aids dialogue and encourages communication in a
common and universally recognized language that is used by your
customers. There is no need to decipher the information as a common
bond is established. The Elevator Pitch is highly adaptable.
Your Elevator Pitch helps you get the job you want.
39
3
chapter
Writing your
Elevator Pitch
try to sell, the Elevator Pitch will make employers want
CVs
to buy
Charlie Dobres, CEO of i-Level
41
PITCH YOURSELF
To write your own Elevator Pitch, you must first consider each element.
There are four core elements to your Elevator Pitch,
Personal details: name and contact details, including your email
address and international dialling code. This is self-explanatory.
Your Personal Promise, based on the three core components of who
you are, how you do it, and what you do.
Your Transferable Assets, chosen from your Career DNA Bank
justified by the use of results, which we call quantifying the
quality.
Short career biography, stating the companies you have worked for,
positions held, and length of service.
The Elevator Pitch should reflect the needs of your audience. We know
they are looking for concise, relevant, targeted and pertinent information. We also know they dont have a lot of time. Help them,
because you will be helping yourself. Write a short Elevator Pitch. If
you cannot write your Elevator Pitch on one page, why not rethink
what you are writing? If it is more than two pages long, you are
definitely not being hard enough on yourself.
The Elevator Pitch

the needs of
42
W R I T I N G Y O U R E L E V AT O R P I T C H
Your Personal Promise

Your Personal Promise is your executive summary. It is you in a
nutshell. How do you crack it? All Personal Promises are founded on
three component questions:
Who you are?
How you do it?
What you do?
Before we learn how to write your own Personal Promise, lets consider
two we have already seen in Chapter 2 and pull them apart.
Bills Personal Promise is: I bring zest for life to my work, making ideas
happen. 14 years of practical, integrated marketing ideas generation for
both clients and advertising agencies across the world.
Johns Personal Promise is: Customer focused, intelligent risk taker.
Direction setter of inventive solutions with the willingness to absorb
situations and get on with it. 28 years leadership of $ multimillion
mechanical engineering projects in the international oil industry.
should reflect
your audience
43
PITCH YOURSELF
Your Personal
be direct,
The Who you are? component is answered by I bring zest for life to
my work and Customer-focused, intelligent risk taker. What does
this tell you about these two people? One has a sense of fun and
passion, and plays hard and works hard, in a larger-than-life outgoing
capacity. The second person is more contained, in a balanced practical
manner, and relishes challenges and the associated risk. John is
passionate about his customers and what they want yet he is willing to
make that big leap through quantifying the risk.
The second component is How you do it? This is a summation of your
overall competencies at a broad level. Here, we have Making ideas
happen [through the zest for life] and Direction setter of inventive
solutions with the willingness to absorb situations and get on with it.
What underpins these statements? In order to make things happen,
Bill challenges the way things are done, asks whether they can be done
better and doesnt just think about an idea but acts upon it and gets
stuck in. Johns statement shows he is a man who is comfortable and
content in fluid situations requiring flexibility of mind, balanced by the
ability to juggle many balls simultaneously. During all of this he
inspires confidence in his team coupled with the ability to cut to the
main issue and assess what is important, why it is important and how
44
Promise should
simple, clear and
directional
it should be tackled, sometimes in an unorthodox yet highly practical
and pragmatic manner.
The third question that needs answering is, What do you do? This is
the only part of the Elevator Pitch that is criteria-based with a linear,
functional perspective. It provides the support for the two previous
questions. Both have tackled this by showing the length of time,
industry sector and geographical regions where they have worked: 14
years of practical, integrated marketing ideas generation for both
clients and advertising agencies across the world and 28 years
leadership of $ multimillion mechanical engineering projects in the
international oil industry.
Your Personal Promise should be direct, simple, clear and directional.
It should be you. There should be a part of you in the Personal Promise
that your friends could spot. It is the umbrella statement that sets out
your stall, which your Transferable Assets then support. The Personal
Promise is the conductor and your Transferable Assets are the
orchestra. The Personal Promise is your sound bite.
We would expect to see further evidence that proves these statements
in their full Elevator Pitches.
45
PITCH YOURSELF
Seems easy enough doesnt it, but lets start in another industry.
Weve all heard that movies are pitched to studios. Budding writers
toil over a story, craft a synopsis, and then ruthlessly simplify it down
to a core sound bite. The sound bite for Alien was allegedly Jaws in
Space.
This sound bite is known as a positioning statement. Positioning was
first defined by Ries and Trout in the early 1970s and has become the
underpinning of the marketing world over the last 30 years. Many
people talk positioning. But few really do it. The fundamental premise
is to concentrate on the relationships in your customers minds and
reconnect them in new and exciting ways. Thats why Jaws in Space
works so well.
Everybody, unconsciously or consciously, practises rudimentary
positioning. Positioning is a prerequisite for selective communication.
How many messages do you receive in any one day? Not just
commercial messages, such as advertising hoardings or television
commercials, but what about that selective political sound bite on
international or domestic affairs? Was it the whole truth? Of course
not. We dont have the time or the space in our heads for the whole
truth. Selective communication reigns supreme in our 24/7 world.
Global companies such as Unilever or Shell practise positioning to find
angles for their products. Countries do it to encourage tourism. Cities
does your
46
do it. People do it. It is an angle. It is selective communication, not allencompassing communication.

When you become selective in your approach to communication you
must ask yourself what particular aspect you wish to showcase and
what would help your customers buy from you.
Its excellent practice to play with pitching your favourite movie, book
or play in this way so that when it comes to you the whole process will
become much easier. Youll then find it easier to be ruthlessly selective
and to focus only on your advantages and benefits.
Whats your sound bite? Whats your Personal Promise? You may have
30 seconds to convince someone to hire you. Or you may get 2 minutes
or 10. Dont they say first impressions count? What do you say?
Why not write it down? Did you think like your CV straitjacketed into
convention? What did you leave out? Why? What was your focus on?
Was it chronological? Autobiographical? Perhaps functional? Did you
refer to things you had done and achieved in the past? Or did you focus
on how you might be described by your partner? Was it a linear view?
Perhaps you outlined several objectiveanalysisactionresult-style
scenarios. Did you emphasize the blue-chip nature of your career to
date? Or did you focus on the bigger picture? Perhaps you highlighted
the boldness of your entrepreneurial stance in a task-driven culture. Or
Personal Promise
sell you?
47
PITCH YOURSELF
maybe your personal capital. You undoubtedly looked into your past
career and highlighted a couple of facets that you felt proud of.
If a sound bite can sell a movie, does your Personal Promise sell you?
Does your Personal Promise cover the three bases?
Who you are?
How you do it?
What you do?
The first component, Who you are?, is best answered by thinking of
examples from other fields and then applying these to yourself. If you
were to describe your best friend, how would you describe them? Youd
probably focus on a string of adjectives that bring their personality to
life rather than their physical description. Its simple to describe your
friends. What would they say about you? Go and grab your favourite
author. How have they described their characters and places? There is
probably some haunting description you read months ago that lurks in
your mind as a powerful evocation of someones intent. What is yours?
How does this translate into your work experience?
To answer the second question, How you do it?, you need to think
about why someone is better than someone else, and then apply this to
yourself. What makes for a great doctor rather than a mediocre doctor?
Is it the number of patients they can see in a day, or is it the reassurance
and self-confidence of their bedside manner, their compassion, or the
way they make bad news sound just that bit better? Think about some
of your previous bosses. What made one better than the other? What
distinguished their performance? Did they focus solely on the end
result and nothing about the means? Or did they create strong morale
and spirit in their team? Were the wins and successes shared? Did
48
they create a feeling of belonging? Did they provide challenging and

stretching tasks? Were they dedicated to their customers? Did they
quickly zero in on the essential items and create focus? Did you
admire their inspirational leadership qualities? Were they a doer? Did
the impossible happen? Similarly, going back in time, you probably
respected and responded better to some teachers than others. Which
teachers do you still think about, and why? Did they involve you? Were
the lessons fun? Why were they fun? What did they do to make them
fun? Did they root a theoretical subject in the everyday here and now?
Did they pass on a burning passion for their subject and make you want
to find out more? Did you gaze at the night sky after a physics lesson
and dream about the enormity of the universe? What are the overall
patterns of behaviour that you have? Quite simply, how do you do
things? Whats your fire?
The third part of the Personal Promise is linear and criteria-based. This
is a summary of your experience, the industry sector or sectors, your
profession and perhaps geographical location.
Figure 3.1 summarizes the types of question that you may find useful
in creating your Personal Promise.
You do not need to have just one Personal Promise. There will be times
when you wish to portray slightly different aspects of your character.
Once you have created your first Personal Promise, try and look at
yourself from different angles and see other facets that might be useful.
However, to write your Personal Promise, and to produce the perfect
set-up for your Elevator Pitch, you need to create your Transferable
Assets and populate your Career DNA Bank.
49
PITCH YOURSELF
Who you are?
How do your friends describe you?

How would your favourite author describe you?
Whats your strapline?
What would a TV ad for you say?
How you do it?
What makes a teacher a good teacher?

What makes a doctor a good doctor?
What makes a boss a good boss?
What makes you a good employee/
employer/interim manager?
What you do?
Number of years worked

Industry sector
Profession and geographical location
Figure 3.1
The Personal Promise
Defining your Transferable Assets

You now need to populate your Career DNA Bank with your Transferable Assets and the evidence that can be used as substantiation.
There are four basic steps in identifying and evidencing your Transferable Assets:
1. Look back on your career and deconstruct it project by project,
thinking about each objective, your analysis, the resulting action,
and the end result.
2. Understand what the objectives, analysis, actions and results tell
you about your behaviours and motives.
try and look at

different
50
3. Create your Transferable Assets by looking at the behaviours and

competencies you can support.
4. Create your Career DNA Bank.
Step 1 Deconstructing your career

To begin this process, you need to take a thorough look back through
your career, concentrating on those situations where you have been
highly successful. You should consider not only the macro-objectives,
such as a 10% growth in profit margin year on year, but also the microobjectives behind this that led you to achieving that growth.
You may have already done some of this work for your appraisals and in
constructing your original CV. One of the tools you may find useful is
the objectivesanalysisactionresults (OAAR) approach. This is a
fairly standard approach to quantifying results within given parameters:
What were the objectives?
What analysis did you make?
What action did you take?
What were the results?
yourself from
angles
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PITCH YOURSELF
Here is an example of a top-line OAAR study from a veterinary nurse:
Objective: To lead and ensure the smooth running of a team of seven

nurses in a busy mixed country practice.
Analysis: Benchmark similar practices around the country. Looked at
previous two years vet practice management (who does what, where,
when, why). Found seasonal trend.
Action: Developed new staff rotas. Created optimal business mix, freed
up additional 20 hours a month of time for every four employees.
Results: An efficient practice where vets could be vets. Ensured nursing
staff were available for theatre, consulting, laboratory, hospitalized
patients, practice administration including small-animal claim forms,
nursing rotas, and on-call out-of-hour duties. Made time available for
practice nurses and resources for the dispensing of drugs and the
teaching of student nurses..
However, the really important information can be found behind the

smaller steps you took in order to deliver the whole objective. Did you
need to manage your team in a different manner or reorganize it? What
really important
found behind the
52
processes and procedures did you need? How did you manage the
learning requirements of your team? Was there a new business win
that drove margins higher but required greater relationship skills? You
should then reanalyze each of these micro-objectives and ask yourself
what you did, how you did it, and why you did it. Again, you may find
you need to be even more granular and repeat the process again and
again. It may help you to think of this whole exercise as a Russian doll:
opening one doll reveals the next, opening that doll reveals the next,
and so on. Each new doll exposed takes you deeper into your analysis
and actions, which constitute how you delivered the larger objective.
On the surface you may find that answering these questions is a simple
and straightforward affair. However, peeling back the layers to get
under your skin can be trickier than it looks. Here are some questions
that might help:
How did you arrive at the objectives?
What skills did you use to analyse the project?
How did you go about implementing the objectives and analysis?
How were the results derived?
What did you actually do to solve the problem?
information can be
smaller steps
you took
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PITCH YOURSELF
How did others contribute?

How were resources managed?
How did you formulate the answer?
What barriers did you encounter?
How did they affect the project?
What made the difference?
What were the organizational factors?
Which behaviours worked, and why?
Probably the easiest way to do this exercise is to write a narrative story.
Get everything down. Then rewrite it several times until you reach a
logical, neat story. Here is an example from Michaels experiences at Dell:
Whilst working for the European head office of Dell Computers I was
tasked with delivering and running the new corporate brand advertising
campaign across Europe and so effect changes in Dells brand equity. This
involved planning and buying print and television media across several
European countries, as well as adapting our television commercials, which
had been shot in both the USA and Europe, for a European audience.
However, there was one small problem. Television advertising is
expensive. It is especially expensive when buying commercials in programmes that attract a business audience such as news and current
affairs. I had to ensure I invested the media budget wisely and effectively
to deliver our objectives. Germany, in particular, was in need of extra
help. It was a key strategic sales geography as well as being the largest
European IT market so we needed to provide a sustained and enhanced
campaign without compromising our other markets. There was not
enough money to do this.
54
When budgets and objectives dont square, you have two choices:
change the objective or change the budget. You also have a third choice:
change the budget without actually changing the budget.
The campaign was launched with a budget nearly 50% greater than
originally planned. This allowed Dell to dramatically increase the
campaigns reach and effectiveness and allowed us to fully support each
business and especially support the German market over a period of
one year. However, this budget increase was achieved without needing
extra cash.
The zero cost incremental budget was delivered through a series of
innovative, symbiotic, back-to-back deals with a range of partners
covering the worlds of media, sport and IT. It proved conclusively that
there is such a thing as a free lunch. The astonishing net result was the
delivery of one years free airtime on two German television stations on
top of the already planned media, as well as Dell becoming the primary
sponsor of the newly minted Williams BMW 1999 Le Mans Racing Team,
again for nothing.
For those racing fanatics, 1999 was the year that Williams BMW won
Le Mans. Suddenly, our primary sponsorship of a racing car reaped the
additional benefits of a free global sponsorship property. This covered
major worldwide television coverage during the race through to BMWs
advertising across the world announcing their win. Naturally, the Dell
logo was always visible and shining bright. Model cars were sent to our
customers. Books were published with tailored dust jackets. The win
was also used in Dells own direct-response advertising to convey
leadership. Employees were excited and it became the highest visited
page within the European Dell internal newsletter hosted on our
intranet.
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PITCH YOURSELF
How do
A major success that began by looking at how to increase budgets
without extra cash and ended with a highly visible global sponsorship
project and a robust year-long media campaign in Germany.
You may find it helpful to transfer the key learnings to a simple OAAR
table. Naturally, you will find that for each area, you will be writing
several different OAAR scripts as the layers are pulled back and
exposed.
Step 2 Understanding what the analysis, action and results

tell you who you are, how you did it, what you did, and
where you did it
Once you have constructed your basic story outlines, you need to
analyze what each part actually means. The objective provides the
context to the problem or opportunity. The analysis and action sections
provide the clues to your behaviour patterns. These two key sections
answer the question, How do you do things? The end result answers
what you did. In the future months and years, you would not be
seeking to replicate the result, but you would be seeking to use the
behaviours underlying your analysis and action, and applying these to
new opportunities and problems. This is shown in Figure 3.2.
Referring back to the case study of Michael at Dell, we can see how he
has analyzed what he did and what behaviours he demonstrated.
What were the motives, traits and behaviour patterns that made
56
you
do things?
him successful in delivering the outcome required and distinguished
excellent performance from average performance?
The overall objective was to deliver a change in Dells brand equity
through running a corporate television campaign across Europe. The
first analysis found that the objectives and budgets were incompatible.
This created a new micro-objective to leverage the existing funds and
make them go further. The analysis was to create a step change in the
budget by looking outside the normal funding arena and developing new
models of participation. The action was a series of lateral, creative,
symbiotic and interlinking partnerships with companies inside and
outside the IT arena. The result was a 50% increase in budget without
any cost to Dell, as well as the creation of a free global sponsorship
property.
Provides
Implication
Objective
Context
Benchmark
Analysis
How you do it
Who you are
You can do it again
Action
How you do it
Who you are
You can do it again
Results
What you do
History
Figure 3.2
Key performance indicators
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PITCH YOURSELF
Theres a bias for action and results. There is a thirst for tough and
unfamiliar challenges coupled with the desire and need to seize an
opportunity. It incorporates a commercial knowledge and cultural
understanding of the business. It shouts loudly about his creativity
and freshness of thinking, showing an intellectually agile mind
capable of juggling concepts and complexity. A tenacity to break the
mould, to experiment, and to not accept the status quo is clearly
defined. Good-quality decisions were made under extreme time
pressures, often without all the data. And there is a clear creative
edge to solving problems and seeing patterns where none existed
previously.
On top of these behaviours, Michael also relied on his 15 years of
advertising and marketing knowledge to help ground his actions and
break down the desired outcome into smaller chunks.
There are many facets to a work project of this nature. There are many
desired outcomes, and many OAARs can be built. For example, one
starting point for analysis could be the actual changes in brand equity.
Another could be how well the agencies were managed and the subsequent media planning and buying performance. Each of these stories
would emphasize a set of behaviours that could be drawn upon in
different ways.
Here is another example, from Bill, illustrating the analysis of one part
of the role he played in winning new business for his company.
Whilst working in Australia for a top advertising agency, I was responsible

for generating new business opportunities. A newspaper group came to
us with a fascinating dilemma. How could we help them strengthen their
58
customer service by improving the relationship between their salesforce

and their client counterparts whilst driving efficiencies by providing
accurate up-to-the-minute information regardless of the Australian time
zones? My task was to win the business.
We identified a number of new customers alongside those identified in
their original brief. We created interlinked intranet, internet and extranet
sites sharing common data that provided customized information to each
audience. This allowed their sales teams to be fully up to date whenever
and wherever they were providing enhanced client service. For their
clients, it delivered a greater speed of response.
I had to manage teams, marshal resources, gain direction and buy-in,
set priorities, understand the commercial imperatives of their business,
step back and see the wider context and the big picture.
Each story and each OAAR set helps you understand your behaviours,
base traits and motives. Following is a list of some of the themes and
behaviours that could underlie some of your Transferable Assets. It is
by no means exhaustive, but should be used merely to get you thinking
about how you might describe how you behave. Think back to the type
of interview questions you have been asked. There are some classic
questions, such as, Have you led a team during a crisis? How did this
compare with calmer times? or Tell me about a time you had to deal
with conflict. Think of all the questions that tried to get under your
skin and highlight the behaviours you have. Write down these
questions. Write down the questions you ask others. Look for the
groups of behaviours. Think about how you might respond. Go back to
your OAAR analysis. Look for commonly used threads:
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PITCH YOURSELF
Good negotiator
Committed
Provides perspective
Solid business strategist
Sees patterns and trends
Resource- and team-
Customer-focused
Flexibility and adaptability
Plain speaker
Copes with the unexpected
Motivational leader
Moves on and is not phased
Provides practical business
Intellectual agility
Inclusive and collaborative
across the matrix
solutions
Results-driven
Business builder
Green-fielding
Understands people
It aint what you do, its the
Business development
way that you do it
Consistent
Passionate
Information gathering
Deals with imprecision
Situational awareness
Helps others succeed
Effective communicator
Resourceful
Technical and practical
Rigorous strategic thinker

Works through others to
deliver objectives
Commercial awareness
60
management
aptitude
Building great teams
Relationship and partnership
building
Creativity and innovation
Challenges convention
Lateral thinker
Sales development
Ability to influence
Problem solver
freedom to act
Discovers concepts, trends
Motivates others
and patterns
Cares for people
Draws inferences
Managing and measuring
Abstract reasoning
Decision making
Verbal reasoning
Managing through systems
Tenacity to deliver
Planning
Tenacity to break the mould
Stands alone
Driven style
Thrives on challenges
Principled
Facilitates organizational
Integrity and trust
success
Honesty
Forward thinking
Loyal
Identify viable business
Intellectual breadth and
Opportunities
depth
Intellectual power
Sets priorities
Rational yet analytical
Comfortably handles risk
enquiring mind
and uncertainty
Long-range thinker
Can shift gears
Cuts to the core of what is
Mentoring
required
Understands and uses the
Identifies priority actions
informal network to get
Gives others scope and
things done
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PITCH YOURSELF
Step 3 Allocating a skill level to each of your identified

competencies creates your Transferable Assets
A Transferable Asset is a competency or behaviour that you are skilled
in. How do you determine the skill level you attribute to a competence?
This depends on a number of things.
It could be the number of times it has been used; you can check this by
looking at the frequency at which the same type of behaviour or group
of behaviours crops up in your analyses of projects. It might help you
to construct a table like that shown in Figure 3.3.
Your story
Behaviours displayed
Arranged into groups
Objective
Analysis
Action
Results
Figure 3.3
Key performance indicators
Superficiality
62
How effective have you been in using the competence and to what
extent has it influenced the outcome of projects? These can be used as
major indicators as to whether this competence is a real strength.
The acid test is how many concrete examples you can provide. If you
claim to be innovative, then you will need several examples to prove it.
The proof is not just the examples you write for your Elevator Pitch.
These are meant to be the best examples that you would prioritize over
others and talk about first. What would happen if you were asked for
another example of this style of behaviour? And another? And
another? You need to be able to drill down and provide the depth and
breadth of your skills and abilities in this area. Superficiality counts for
nothing. Not everyone is results-driven. Not everyone is innovative.
Not everyone is creative. What are you?
Look back at your OAAR tables. Do you see common patterns? What
behaviours do you display?
Step 4 Creating your Career DNA Bank

Your Career DNA is stored in a Career DNA Bank. Think of this as a
deposit account. Identifying all your Transferable Assets at the outset
ensures you have a full bank account with a rich currency reserve.
Many of us have numerous Transferable Assets, all of which are
counts for
nothing
63
PITCH YOURSELF
relevant. Just not all at the same time. Some have been built up, while
others are being nurtured and progressed. This is an ongoing process
throughout your whole career.
You have identified consistently used behaviour patterns. These need
to be written up ready for use in your Elevator Pitches.
John Baldwin has identified his Transferable Assets using the processes
described and built his own Career DNA Bank. He has used a threestep process to write and explain his Transferable Assets that are going
to be used in his Elevator Pitch:
Step 1: Decide what key words best describe your Transferable Assets in
a positive and realistic way. You are looking to impress upon the reader
that you are the right person for the role, so choose your words carefully.
It is imperative that the style and tone of your Transferable Assets reflect
you and evidences your Personal Promise. It is worth reminding yourself
at this stage of phrases that would be considered as negative and would
create unfavourable impressions. It is a sure-fire way of making sure you
dont use them by mistake. John initially created the table shown in
Figure 3.4.
Step 2: You have selected key descriptive words and/or phrases to help
build and evidence your Transferable Assets. Now you need to look at
those parts of your career that evidence your Transferable Assets and,
most importantly, you wish to highlight. Your Transferable Assets were
defined previously by using the detailed OAAR analysis technique. For
each of the Transferable Assets that you have chosen to use on your
Elevator Pitch there will be many parts of your career that you can use
to highlight them. List these as shown in Figure 3.5.
64
Categories
Positive keywords for Elevator Pitch Negative words or impressions to be avoided
People
Supportive, encouraging, guiding,

mentor, even-handed, fair and
reasonable, sincere, approachable,
flexible
Cautious, conservative, reserved
Job
Analytical, articulate, inventive,

thinks outside the box, coordinated, disciplined, organized,
vocal participant, prudent, leader,
communicator, direction setter
Observer, quiet, follower, indecisive
Functional
Product knowledge, hands-on,

international, cultural awareness,
new business ventures, JVs,
agents, key accounts, externally
focused, fiscal awareness, contract
awareness, terms and condtions,
legal entity
Inexperience, parochial, tunnel vision
Behaviour
Positive, flexible, intelligent risk

taker, lateral mover, social,
languages, flexible
Negative, dour, inflexible, outrageous,

prejudiced
Figure 3.4
John Baldwins Career DNA Bank
Categories
Transferable assets
Notes
People
Supportive, approachable, fair

and reasonable
For use in describing my HRassociated role in expat job
Job
Analytical, communication
Reference my engineering background
Functional
Hands-on, outside the box
My industry experience
Behaviour
Lateral mover, flexibility
My willingness to absorb situations

and get on with it
All resulting in enhanced business
results
Figure 3.5
Transferable Asset Analyser
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PITCH YOURSELF
Step 3: You have now selected your Transferable Assets with notes
attached showing how they evidence your career. You need to combine
these to build them up using your actual experiences to create a fully
evidenced Transferable Asset. Remember not to use industry jargon or
abbreviations. You are setting out your stall and are aiming to make a real
and excellent first impression. You now have a rich currency reserve in your
Career DNA Bank. Lets spend it. Your Transferable Assets are now in a
format that are ready to use when creating your Elevator Pitch. (Figure 3.6).
Fair and
reasonable,
supportive,
approachable
I managed 12 expatriate employees in three Middle Eastern countries,

most of whom were family accompanied. I had responsibility for the
equitable administration of company policy in areas such as housing, local
benefits, schooling, vehicles, home leaves, etc., requiring a fair and
reasonable approach with even-handed treatment for all. Living conditions
in the late 1970s were trying and required a supportive and approachavble
management style.
Analytical,
communication
My engineering background gives me an analytical nature and as GM and

VP, I chaired weekly production meetings and successfully analysed critical
path processes to keep delivery schedules on track through the disruptive
period of a plant-expansion programme.
Participation in major tender authorship together with personal
presentations to key account clients using communication skills
dramatically improved bid package content and contributed to four new
account and territory successes in a two-year period while maintaining all
existing accounts.
Hands-on,
outside the box
Eight years in field service management in international offshore and

onshore operations have given me a sound hands-on industry competence.
(GM Kvaerner Oilfield Prducts Middle East)
Instigated and set up a unique JV manufacturing partnership in Iran
resulting in a market entry over a four-year period generating sales
revenue of $5m. This continues to develop and grow. This was very much
an outside the box strategy not initially considered workable by some.
Lateral mover,
flexibility
Accepted a lateral move as a career-development opportunity and a chance

to develop from scratch a complete sales and marketing presence where
none had existed. This resulted in sales exceeding $5m/annum within two
years and a threefold increase in head count plus an additional district
office set-up.
I am a well-rounded individual having demonstrated a flexibilty that has
progressed me through 10 senior positions, in 10 postings (six
international) with three multinational companies that have required a
solid mix of business and pleasure with colleagues and clients. Throughout
I have been ably encouraged by a supportive wife and family.
Figure 3.6
66
Squaring the circle on your transferable assets
Critiquing your Elevator Pitch

Your CV described what you did. Your Elevator Pitch describes who
you are, your behaviours, your characteristics, and how you do what
you do. Your Elevator Pitch should have a resonance about it. You
should be able to recognize you. The Elevator Pitch is a mirror. If your
reflection is cloudy, youll need to rethink your words and actions.
Easy to say, hard to do. Start by revisiting your Personal Promise and
ask the three questions of yourself again. Who are you? How do you do
it? What do you do? Ask a good friend or colleague to look through it.
Are they looking at a picture of you that they recognize to be true? Can
they see you?
If your Personal Promise changes, then you may need to revisit some
of the Transferable Assets and decide whether they evidence your
amended Personal Promise.
You will instinctively know when it is right, as you will see you, and
your colleagues or friends will be able to confirm this easily.
67
4
chapter
The benefits of the

Elevator Pitch
business goals are being moved at ever-increasing
Todays
speeds. It therefore matters less what you have done and
more what you can do. The Elevator Pitch addresses this
Mark Baldry, Managing Director of Infoline Conferences Ltd
head on.
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PITCH YOURSELF
The recent dot.com bubble heralded a change in the recruitment

process. People were recruited on the basis of their behaviours and
competencies irrespective of function and industry. This created some
fabulous teams of like-minded people from diverse backgrounds united
by a hunger and passion to change the world. They worked hard. They
played hard. They were bright and articulate. Many of you joined the
gold rush. Many column inches have been written about the Internet
crash. Sure, many companies had no solid business models, but the
reality is that the Internet is only just beginning to change the world
but this is obscured by the negative publicity. It would be nice if
another legacy was a more enduring contribution to the way we recruit
people. Perhaps those who joined dot.com companies will, in turn,
never forget the spark that came from having such a diverse group of
talented people.
The Elevator Pitch is all about the feelings and associations that create
the need for you so buyers will buy. This is in stark contrast to the old
CV model that can be characterized as the interruptrepeat model of
communication, where the buyer is not really brought into the buying
process. The Elevator Pitch changes seller push into buyer pull.
Probably the best way to look at the Elevator Pitch is to think about
how the Elevator Pitch would present itself.
The Elevator Pitch

push into
70
T H E B E N E F I T S O F T H E E L E V AT O R P I T C H
The Personal Promise would be about directness in solving a particular

issue. It would probably say:
I am direct, focused, forthright. I am mad about my customers. I focus on
competencies
and behaviour patterns rather than criteria to make the
distinction between who you are and how you do it, not what you are
and where you have done it. I offer a compelling analytical process that
improves recruitment processes and meets the needs of todays career
landscape.
Flexibility and adaptability

Objective: Bespoke sales tool easily refined and defined for each task.
Analysis: Understanding and breaking down the position and analyzing
your Career DNA to successfully construct your approach.
Action: The correct selection of your Personal Promise and Transferable
Assets combined with results that evidence them.
Result: A targeted and focused personal sales strategy.
changes seller
buyer pull
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PITCH YOURSELF
Forward looking
Objective: Concentrates on your future potential, not your historical past.
Analysis: You debunk your CV of its historical and linear faade.
Action: Creation of Career DNA Bank.
Result: Concise understanding of your capabilities and how these match
with future jobs.
Establishing rapport
Objective: Establish and use the universal language of behaviours
and competencies.
Analysis: You identify your Transferable Assets.
Action: Concise, tailored, relevant, pertinent information is provided for
position you apply for.
Result: Quickly establishes what does this person do or offer me? What is
their value add? Maximizes opportunity to hire. Begin recruitment process
from correct viewpoint. Better selection and hiring process.
The Elevator Pitch

where
72
Results-driven
Objective: To create the need for you.
Analysis: Match your Transferable Assets to the role.
Action: Effective use of Transferable Assets.
Results: The buyer wants to buy you.
The Elevator Pitch helps you go where you want to go. Lord Norman
Tebbit, a former UK cabinet minister, used the phrase Get on your
bike in the early 1980s to encourage us to think about change,
relocate, further our education and professional skills, and to think
about how we could grow intellectually. The Elevator Pitch is a
physical demonstration of the tangible and intangible attributes of
Normans bike.
There are numerous career changes you can make, and they could take
many different forms (Figure 4.1).
You make the new opportunities. The Elevator Pitch merely frames
them. This makes it possible to move more easily across industry
boundaries, through cultural boundaries, across country divides, and
from one job function to another. This is in perfect harmony with the
changing career landscape.
helps you go
you want to go
73
Elevator Pitch
Two-way feedback on message all the time
PITCH YOURSELF

Returning to work
Interim management
Figure 4.1
Where are you going
These possibilities can be summarized by the acronym, CLLIF (culture,

language, location, industry, function):
Culture: company culture, industry culture, social culture.
Language: change of language, say English to Spanish or German.
Location: relocating geographically, within the same country or crossing
international borders.
Industry: change of industry, say chemicals industry to academia.
Function: change of job function.
Normally, you would only look to change one of these dimensions at
any one time. How many of us look seriously at more than one of these
options at a time? Probably only a few of us.
Many opportunities lie outside our usual line of sight in other industries, companies, countries, cultures and job functions. In an ideal
world we want to look at all of these opportunities and not just the
obvious ones that present themselves. It could simply be the opportunity to learn a new foreign language.
74
Case study from Bills career

I was working in London as the Group Advertising Sales Manager for a
successful weekly teenage magazine. I received an offer from a French
publishing company Bayard Presse as a Rights Manager based in their
international head office in Paris. The role was substantially different from
anything I had previously encountered in my career. It was a horizontal
move. Part of my rationale for taking this position was my dream of
becoming a fluent French speaker. I changed all aspects of my business
and social life.
Culture: both business and social.

Location: London to Paris.
Language: English to French.
Industry: Advertising sales to book publishing.
Function: Sales to international publishing rights.
How did I manage the transition from being a salesman to becoming a
buyer of international publishing rights? Many of the behaviours that
made me a successful advertising salesman in the first place could be
transferred to my new role. I was an effective communicator as I was
continually trying to perfect my written and oral presentation style. I had
the ability to negotiate whilst fully understanding all the ramifications of
the process and how it might affect the overall outcome. I was commercially astute. However, there were two differences: I was conducting
business in French and buying instead of selling.
Dangers of CV Thinking
One of the current dangers in changing function or industry is that many
employers, recruiters and executive search companies use CV Thinking.
For the CV Thinker new opportunities are constrained and defined by
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PITCH YOURSELF
the last position you held. Great opportunities are missed and companies
miss out on suitable candidates. Sometimes, the only candidates a
company sees are the closest matches to the category experience. This is
a shame, as there are many candidates who could provide additional value
and stretch by delivering a strong, broad range of skills and experience
that would be suitable not only for the role today but also for where
organizations want to go in the future. This CV Thinking can lead to
missed opportunities for you and the potential employer. We could all
benefit from being more open with our requirements.
Case study from Bills career

I suffered from CV Thinking on my return to the UK from Australia. I
thought like a CV. The recruitment agencies whom I had asked to help
me were also CV Thinkers. I prepared my new and gleaming CV concentrating on the role I had just completed. I wrote good solid facts
highlighting my achievements.
Through CV Thinking, I had branded and positioned myself as a new
media agency director, nothing else. I could not understand why the job
I had held in Australia suddenly seemed to be the only thing I had ever
done. All my work prior to this was deemed irrelevant. What had
happened to the previous ten years of my working life? Had they slipped
through a time warp? I was sure I had put everything in my CV and even
checked this numerous times. About halfway through the recruitment
process, I began thinking differently. What could I offer other companies? What did they find interesting in me? I had begun my initial EP
Thinking. There was a resounding clash as my EP Thinking met my
CV Thinking.
I spent many hours on the phone and in meetings with recruitment
agencies explaining I was interested in not only the new-media agency
76
roles but also wider-ranging positions. It was my persistence on this

occasion that won the day. I had just not realized the recruitment
industry were doing exactly what I had asked of them. The problem did
not lie with them. It lay firmly at my feet. Or to be more accurate, it was
the fault of a good CV not being able to do the job I had asked of it.
I secured a senior marketing position in the world of financial services.
The financial services industry was a place that was unfamiliar and
where I had no direct experience. What I had was a set of Transferable
Assets that meant I could add real value to the company and look at the
issues faced with a fresh outlook. Importantly, I was not going to regurgitate something I had done in a previous financial services company. It
allowed me to produce unique innovative and creative work. It showed
me how cross-pollination of ideas from one industry sector to another
could add real value to the bottom line.
When I came to leaving the financial services company, I was faced by
the very same problem as before: CV Thinking in an EP world.
But, again I transferred from one industry sector to another, as I had
understood that the employers were interested in who I am, how I do it,
and what I do.
are flexible, never stop learning and applying and generally
dontGoodjustpeople
stay in one category industry; they also are not threatened by
change and evolution, they thrive on it.
Mark Bailey, Board Director of Leo Burnett Advertising: Australia
Coping with redundancy

No one plans for redundancy. Unfortunately, it just happens. Redundancy is often associated with a downturn of not only a company but
77
PITCH YOURSELF
also an industry sector. If this is the case, trying to get straight back
into that particular market sector could be a long process. There will
be a large number of equally qualified individuals vying for an everdecreasing number of positions. It is therefore a good idea to study
your Transferable Assets and consider options in other functions and
other potentially more lucrative industries. This ultimately reflects the
changing work patterns. Many people put all their effort into their
current role and rely on the organization to deliver their career. Redundancy may be your reward when the employer faces marked changes.
You need to be continually adapting and learning, gaining experiences
and broadening your base.
Learning new skills is an ongoing process and needs to be positively
pursued
at all times by everyone whatever position they are in. When you
are made redundant it is too late.
Iain Herbertson, CEO of Manpower UK
The demands of interim management

Interim management is becoming a lifestyle choice for many senior
executives. As a profession, it has also been responding to changes in
the work environment. Several years ago, interim management was
Learning new
ongoing process
positively
78
concerned with covering maternity leave and not rocking the boat. In
todays uncertain world, interim management is concerned more
with delivering and speeding up the way companies run. They come
to troubleshoot a project or manage a business function. They need to
have specific market knowledge but also a broad commercial base.
They hit the decks running, identifying the key issues, developing
action plans, bringing teams with them, running the implementation,
smashing through obstacles and bringing a sense of urgency. Interim
managers need to display a sense of the key competencies that can
match their specific market knowledge to the wider imperative to
deliver change. Interim managers have unwittingly been using EP
Thinking, but they have not had the vehicle to use it in. This has
changed with the arrival of the Elevator Pitch.
Experience is diverse
You may be returning to work after an absence of a couple of years for
whatever reason. It could have been to raise a family, to study Inca art
in South America, or to circumnavigate the globe in a yacht. You will
have gained valuable experience that is not always that easy to capture,
e.g. the teamwork and leadership skills that are necessary to sail
around the world. This experience helps build your Career DNA.
skills is an
and needs to be
pursued
79
PITCH YOURSELF
Work experience versus Transferable Assets

Think back to how you sold yourself at your first-ever job interview
after university or college. You related behaviours and shared experiences about college life and made them connect to your new working
life. Essentially, you had identified your Transferable Assets. Some of
us may have started our new careers and then, a couple of years down
the line, decided we should take a new direction. You were then caught
in a catch-22 position. The roles required experience. Why is it that
two years earlier you could use your Transferable Assets to land a job,
whereas now your worth is measured by work experience? The
Elevator Pitch redefines your relationship to work experience and
allows you to start again.
Better and more successful interviews

The Elevator Pitch is your initial marketing tool. Like all marketing
initiatives, the message needs to be put to the right target market and
contain relevant content to fulfil the target markets needs.
The interview is a business meeting. Your aim is to put your point of
view across to sell an idea, concept or proposition, communicate a
message, or sell yourself in a style that is completely irresistible and
worth remembering. They cant help but want to buy you.
The Elevator Pitch

80
Traditionally the CV has been the document used to control the pace
and direction of the interview. As mentioned previously the CV concentrates on your historical events and spreads its net very wide to include
information that is not relevant and needs to be deciphered. It does not
focus on the information pertinent and relevant to the vacancy.
Using your Elevator Pitch to set the agenda for an interview bolsters
the proceedings because it is clear, concise and focused. Its focus is on
those parts of your career that you know to be relevant for the role. The
inclusion of only relevant content saves precious time, increasing the
likelihood of the interview addressing only the salient points.
The interview is a two-way street. It requires direction and a fine
balance of control from the interviewee. Too many times it is the interviewer doing all the driving.
The Elevator Pitch is the road map to guide you through a successful
meeting and help attain the desired results.
You can use the Elevator Pitch to control the flow of information.
Good negotiation rests on what you say, how you say it and when you
say it. The CV contains your whole life story. The Elevator Pitch
contains only pertinent information. You can emphasize different
aspects of your career through tailored Elevator Pitches. They are easy
to amend to create bespoke packages. This is especially important the
deeper one goes through the recruitment process. At each step, you
learn more about the competencies that define success for this position
is your initial
marketing tool
81
PITCH YOURSELF
You will never

and organization. Your Elevator Pitch can become more refined. The
decision on what to highlight and when to highlight is down to you.
This is only possible with an Elevator Pitch.
Jack Gratton, CEO of Major Players, the UKs leading recruitment
agency for the marketing services industry, produced an Elevator Pitch
for the book. In his own words, this would definitely get me in front
of people, but I would probably take another to the meeting to set the
inteview agenda. By careful use of the Elevator Pitch one can gain
control of meetings. The Elevator Pitch is about the quality and
relevance of information. This creates the first vital impressions.
Your Elevator Pitch is physical evidence of the synergy between your
competencies and the vacancy on offer. It is the best document to leave
behind.
One of the true benefits of the Elevator Pitch is its ability to make sure
you stand out from the crowd and you are put into the Yes pile, as No
and Maybe are not good enough. You have gained the competitive
advantage.
Help your referee

The job of your referee is to help secure your new job, by giving further
evidence of who you are, how you do it, and what you do. They add real
value. You need them to speak eloquently about you from their
position of authority and about your Transferable Assets. The Elevator
Pitch ensures your referee can see which direction you are taking and
which Transferable Assets you are using. Anticipate some of the
82
need a CV again
questions that could be asked of your referee and brief them accordingly. Give them all the help and direction you can.
Highlighting and uniting your career

As the world changes and traditional career paths fracture your
Elevator Pitch unites and highlights your career choices (Figure 4.2).
Why will the Elevator Pitch take over from where the CV left off? Put
simply, it is better. If we compare them head to head by dissecting their
respective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you will
easily see the differences (Figures 4.3 and 4.4).
You will never need a CV again.
The Elevator Pitch is a buyer-pull view of the world. It talks a universally recognized language and emphasizes fit. It unites variety and
highlights singularity of career. It provides the answer to how you do
things. It reduces extraneous information to the core. It places you in
control of your life and allows you to release information at key points
in the negotiating process.
The Elevator Pitch is the 21st Century successor to the CV.
Career
CV
EP
Industry variety
Dissipates
Unites
Functional variety
Dissipates
Unites
Singular industry
Not differentiating
Highlights
Singular function
Not differentiating
Highlights
Figure 4.2
Highlighting and uniting your career
83
PITCH YOURSELF
Strengths
Weaknesses
Historical, rational
Conventional and traditional safe
Universal
Shows why you were paid for previous
years
Chronological shows consistency
Linear
Cannot easily answer What does this person do or

offer me? What is their value add?
Contains all information rather than pertinent,
relevant and selective information in a Take it or
leave it menu
Hides your value beneath chronological faade
Fails to emphasize fit between you and the job
Need for someone else to decipher and
understand your real value
Exacerbates flaws in the interview process
Used to create barriers to entry not opportunity
People get them wrong
Seller push world view: fails to emphasize fit
between you and the job. Not distinguishing and
distinctive lacks soul
Static, linear, rational, historical & conventional
Common language with uncommon tongue
Opportunities
Opportunity to answer What does this
person do or offer me? What is their
value add?
Improved way to provide relevant,
pertinent and selective information
Better sales document
Increase flexibility
To showcase your future value
Figure 4.3
84
Threats
The Elevator Pitch
The weakness of your CV
Strengths
Easily answers What does this person do or offer me?
What is their value add?
Pertinent, relevant and selective information in a
bespoke menu. Reduces extraneous information to
relevant data
Showcases your real value
Emphasizes fit between you and the job buyer pull
view of the world
No need for someone else to decipher and understand
your real value. Establishes common language no
code, no deciphering required
Maximizes opportunity in hiring
Easy to get right and not make basic mistakes
Dynamic, non-linear, modern
Unites career variety and highlights career singularity
Proven ability to deliver, forward looking, establishes
rapport, flexibility and adaptability
Results driven
Aids recruitment saves recruiter time and effort by
highlighting relevant information in a concise format
You gain greater control of selection process from
primary contact to interview
Weaknesses
Not yet accepted as the new currency
Opportunities
To become the new currency of recruitment
Figure 4.4
Threats
Closed minds
The benefits of your Elevator Pitch
85
5
chapter
Top-floor Elevator
Pitches
Todays
head on.
87
PITCH YOURSELF
We would like to welcome all of you who thought this was the first
page of the book. We know this is an obvious mistake that anyone of
us could make!
We would recommend a look at the rest of the book as it is really quite
good. After all you have bought a copy. It seems a shame not to make
the most of it.
In this chapter we have pulled together a collection of Elevator Pitches
from real people from many walks of life. They range from pilots to office
managers, from entrepreneurs to advertising people, from mechanical
engineers to veterinary nurses, from publishers to politicians. They
demonstrate the flexibility and universal approach of the Elevator Pitch
and the people who use it.
Both Mara Goldstein, a senior member of the British Civil Service, and
John Baldwin, a senior mechanical engineer, have been good enough to
allow us to publish not only their Elevator Pitches but also their traditional CVs. We have included these so direct comparison between the
two can be made.
Elevator Pitches
to be hard-hitting,
no-nonsense
88
T O P - F LO O R E L E V AT O R P I T C H E S
Johns CV is relatively unorthodox as it is too long. It also fails because

it does not prioritize pertinent and relevant information. His traditional
CV has focused on what his roles were, not what he achieved or how he
achieved them. Quite simply, it does not tell the reader who John is and
what he does. Although Johns Elevator Pitch is shorter than his CV, it
manages to convey Johns capabilities and personality. Johns Elevator
Pitch is pertinent, relevant, and makes the right impression.
Mara is a high achiever. She has fast-tracked through the ranks of the Civil
Service in the UK and the European Commission. Maras CV contains
much information but it is a list of committees, functions and responsibilities. It is hard to understand why Mara has been successful. Her CV
fails on the key criteria of readability, relevance and impression. On the
other hand, her Elevator Pitch, which is based on a set of required Civil
Service Competencies, is more resonant than her CV and is a succinct and
powerful document that captures the Mara her friends know. Mara has
crammed much into her life and her Elevator Pitch reflects this. She
clearly feels the Elevator Pitch gets to the heart of what she actually does
and who she really is.
are designed
no-fuss,
strategic personal
sales documents
89
PITCH YOURSELF
You will see many examples of Elevator Pitches. They are designed to
be hard-hitting, no-fuss, no-nonsense strategic personal sales documents.
You will also see a job description for a veterinary sales manager. We
then give the job candidates analysis broken down into its component
Transferable Assets and the Elevator Pitch she wrote to secure the
position.
Ken Livingstone, the first elected Mayor of London has been kind
enough to write his Elevator Pitch for the book.
We would like to thank our friends and colleagues, for all their help in
this chapter.
Most of the following Elevator Pitches can be printed on one side of A4
paper. Some of the Elevator Pitches reproduced in the book will by
necessity fall on 3 pages, due to the size of the book.
Heres a list of the CVs and Elevator pitches that follow.
John Baldwins EP
John Baldwins CV
Mara Goldsteins EP
Mara Goldsteins CV
Nancy Prendegasts EP
Bill Fausts EP
Michael Fausts EP
Marc Schavemakers EP
Mark Baileys EP
Louise Medleys EP
Ken Livingstones EP
90
Darren Fells EP
Justine Cobbs EP
Jack Grattons EP
Richard Davies EP
Charlie Dobres EP
Job brief and answers by Laura Neilsons EP
91
SENIOR MECHNICAL ENGINEER
Supportive and
approachable
management style
Hands on outside
the box
Analytical
communication
I managed 12 expatriate employees in 3 Middle-Eastern countries, most of whom were family

accompanied. I had responsibility for the equitable administration of company policy in areas such
as housing, local benefits, schooling, vehicles, home leaves, etc., requiring a fair and reasonable approach
with even-handed treatment for all. Living conditions in the late 1970s were trying and required a supportive
and approachable management style.
At GM Kvaerner Oilfield Products Middle East, I instigated and set up a unique JV manufacturing
partnership in Iran, resulting in a market entry over a 4-year period generating sales revenue of $5m. This
continues to develop and grow. This was very much an outside the box strategy not initially considered
workable by some.
8 years in field service management in international offshore and onshore operations have given
me a sound hands-on industry competency.
Participation in major tender authorship together with personal presentations to key account clients
dramatically improved bid package content and contributed to four new account and territory successes in a
2-year period while maintaining all existing accounts.
My engineering background gives me an analytical nature and, as GM and VP, I chaired weekly production
meetings and successfully analyzed critical path processes to keep delivery schedules on track through the
disruptive period of a plant-expansion programme.
28 years leadership of $multimillion mechanical engineering projects in the international oil industry.
Customer-focused, intelligent risk taker. Direction setter of inventive solutions with the willingness to absorb situations and get
on with it.
Mobile: 44(0) xxxx xxxx, Home: 44(0) 1555 xxx xxx, E-mail: John@anywhere.com
2 Doughton Road, Gloucestershire GL21 6PW, UK
JOHN BALDWIN
PITCH YOURSELF
Career history
Lateral move
flexibility
Languages: Fluent business French
Peglar Hattersley and Newman Hender Ltd
McEvoy Oilfield Equipment Ltd

19731979
Senior Sales Engineer based Singapore
Sales and Service Manager based Scotland
19661973
FMC Corporation UK Ltd

19791995
Area Sales Manager, Europe and North Africa
Key Account Manager based London
Regional Sales Manager, Europe, Africa and Middle East based France
Key Account Manager, based London
Regional Sales Manager, Australasia based Melbourne
Kvaerner Oilfield Products

1996 to present
Regional Sales Manager, Europe, Africa and Middle East based Head Office London
General Manager, Middle East based Dubai
General Manager and Vice President, Asia Pacific based Singapore
I am a well-rounded individual having demonstrated a flexibility that has progressed me through 10 senior
positions in 10 postings (6 international) with 3 multinational companies that have required a solid mix of
business and pleasure with colleagues and clients. Throughout, a supportive wife and family have ably
encouraged me.
Accepted a lateral move as a career-development opportunity and a chance to develop from

scratch a complete sales and marketing presence where none had existed. This resulted in sales exceeding
$5m/annum within 2 years, and a threefold increase in head count plus an additional district office set-up.
PITCH YOURSELF
CV JOHN BALDWIN
Full name:
John Baldwin
Date of birth:
21 October 19xx
Nationality:
British
Status:
Married, daughter 31 years, son 27 years
UK address:
2 Doughton Road
Gloucestershire
GL21 6PW
UK tel:
+44 (0)1666 xxx xxx
Office tel:
+44 1666 xxx xxx
Mobile tel:
+44 xxxxx xxx xxx
Email:
email@anywhere.com
Education record
Sir William Romneys Grammar School, Tetbury
Mid-Gloucestershire College of Technology
Qualifications
Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering
Memberships
Society of Petroleum Engineers
Proficiencies
Microsoft Office Suite
Languages
Conversational French
Courses and training completed
Managing Interpersonal Relationships
The Crosby Quality Course
94
Effective Financial Management

Proposal Planning
Managing Performance through Effective Leadership
Employment record
April 2001present
Regional Sales Manager, Europe, Africa and Middle East (KOP Surface
Equipment) based Head Office London, reporting to the International Sales Manager and VP in Houston
The company refocus on surface product technology in response to a
decline in major subsea project work worldwide has resulted in an
expansion in territory and customer base where surface and onshore
development is expanding. The establishment of sales structures for
continued growth in the Middle East and Iran, including the establishment of an Iranian JV manufacturing entity and a coverage of North
African potential, have been key areas of activity to date.
Recognition of further opportunities in the European, North Sea and
Eastern Europe areas, together with the concentration of major international operating companies in London, Paris, The Hague and Milan,
has made European sales coverage of prime importance, and increased
tender participation through a London presence is evident.
1998April 2001
General Manager, Kvaerner Oilfield Products (KOP) Middle East
based Dubai, reporting to the president in Singapore
Following a 2-year period as VP in Singapore, and despite a successful
trading year, the sudden and catastrophic Asian economic crises
coupled with a record low oil price, made sweeping economies in the
95
PITCH YOURSELF
John Baldwins CV continued

Far East operation essential as a matter of good business practice. New
markets and new accounts were required to maintain the business and,
as VP marketing, I had already identified the Middle East as a growth
area for KOP.
I transferred to Dubai in September of 1998 to start up KOPs first
Middle-Eastern venture, with the establishment of a representative
office in Dubai in support of existing business and in pursuit of new
business development in the area. To date, this has resulted in exploration equipment business with Total for Iranian projects, and the
companys qualification with PDO, Oman, NIOC Iran and Occidental in
Qatar. Other major accounts are in process, and the company is on
target to secure a first-year budgeted order intake for the Middle East
of over $2m. As of this date, the Middle East now accounts for 75% of all
new quotations activity for the region.
19961998
General Manager and Vice President, Kvaerner Oilfield Products,
Asia Pacific based Singapore, reporting to the President
I initially joined KOP as Marketing Manager and was promoted to GM
and VP. The company closed its Singapore manufacturing operation to
expand a new facility in Batam Island, Indonesia. I was heavily involved
with the start-up operations at Batam, while maintaining normal
business activity through the start-up period.
KOP maintained a staff of 25 people in Singapore with 160 people
at the Batam plant. In addition to general management duties, I was
also responsible for sales and marketing, with the internal quotations
department reporting to me. Despite the considerable traumas of
the plant relocation, KOP experienced its best-ever order intake for the
96
region in 1998, exceeding $25m for the first time and establishing four
major new accounts and three new territory market entries.
Regional Managers in Thailand, India and Australia reported to me for
sales-related matters, and I chaired the weekly production meetings
at the Batam plant. Since the president was responsible for all KOP
product lines, he maintained an extremely busy travel schedule, thus
leaving me to run all routine administration in the region for both
manufacturing and marketing. Performance-related bonuses were
paid in both years.
19951996
Area Sales Manager, Europe and North Africa, and Key Account
Manager FMC Corporation UK Ltd, Petroleum Equipment and
Systems Division
Based in London and reporting to the international marketing director
at the manufacturing plant in Dunfermline, Scotland. Supervising a
sales team of 5 company sales engineers and 5 international sales and
stockists agencies.
The role included an additional responsibility for 2 key accounts (BP and
Philips Petroleum), which were managed personally. International and
domestic business travel accounted for 60% of time, putting me in
contact with the companys manufacturing plants in both the UK and
France. Preparation of account plans, inbound budgets and operating
budgets was my responsibility for the area.
Sales for the area in 1994 were $15m, and 1995 exceeded $18m.
Products marketed included production and exploration wellhead
equipment, subsea drilling and production systems, drilling tools, and
high-pressure control valves.
97
PITCH YOURSELF

This role required a regular interface with engineering and commercial
contract managers, particularly in the preparation phase of high-value
quotations and subsequent clarification and negotiation meetings with
clients. The key account role developed close interpersonal relationships with clients and created the basis for preferred supplier status
before tender release, so leading to the stronger position of incumbent
on future tenders.
Personnel administration included the setting of objectives and
performance criteria and subsequent performance reviews. Agents
and distributors were visited regularly and, when necessary, agreements were modified or terminated. The appointment of reliable
agents was a crucial part of the job, and FMC enjoyed a reputation
for long-term agency relationships for which I am happy to take
some credit.
The position relocated from France in November 1994 when product
line sourcing was largely relocated to the UK plant, making the logistics
of territory management and interface with both plants more convenient from the London base.
19911995
Regional Sales Manager, Europe, Africa and Middle East, FMC Europe
SA-Equipment Petrolier
Reporting to the International Marketing Manager then located in
Brussels. Resident in Sens, France, working from the manufacturing
plant. This role was largely similar to that described above, but with the
additional responsibility of West Africa and part of the Middle East
(Oman and Qatar).
98
The number of subordinates was between 8 and 10 company Sales

Engineers and up to 8 agencies, with annual sales growing to $30m for
material sourced from the French plant in1994.
At this time, Oman and Qatar were a part of our sales territory for
historical sourcing reasons, and I was instrumental in completing a
market survey and instigating initial discussions with our agent in
Oman (who I had appointed in 1979) with a view to setting up a joint
venture manufacturing plant in Muscat. This plant is now operational
and has secured 75% of a $12m market for FMC in Oman with potential
for exports to other GCC states in the Gulf.
During this period, I was resident with my wife in Sens, France and by
necessity became familiar with the language and culture. The final year
of my posting in France also included responsibility for internal sales
management (quotations) and a small field service team of 5 engineers.
19881991
Key Account Manager, FMC Corporation UK Ltd based London,
reporting to the Regional Marketing Manager in Dunfermline
Key accounts included BP, Shell and British Gas. Inbound in 1991 for
these accounts exceeded $8m and included production wellhead
equipment for the BP Bruce platform in the UK North Sea, Shell Tern,
and British Gas Morcambe Bay.
19831988
Regional Sales Manager, Australasia based Melbourne, Victoria for
FMC Australia Ltd, reporting to the Marketing Manager in Singapore
99
PITCH YOURSELF

Small sales and service team of three people covering a relatively
small market, but very large geographically. The territory included New
Zealand and Papua New Guinea. Business was supported primarily by
local stocking and warehousing operations in Melbourne and Perth,
and focused on the low-tech end of a niche market, which enabled us to
compete with a locally based manufacturer of petroleum equipment.
The logistics involved in importing from the Singapore plant and distributing and servicing a vast territory were a considerable challenge and
enabled me to develop a good understanding of the distribution side of
the business.
19791983
Area Manager, Middle East based Dubai, UAE and reporting to the
International Marketing Manager in Houston Texas
Territory included all Gulf states, Pakistan and Turkey. I was responsible
for a sales and service operation extending to a total of 12 expatriates
based in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. At this time, FMC business in
the Middle East was in its infancy, and the appointment of agents in
Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman were key objectives.
The Oman agency has since developed into a JV manufacturing
agreement, and all other representative agreements initiated by
me are still effective. Travel requirements were extensive and
sometimes arduous, while 24hr service commitments were demanding.
The early 1980s were boom days in the petroleum industry, and sales
figures can be misleading, but sales exceeded $20m in all years, even
though some personnel rationalization to reduce expatriate costs
became necessary by 1982. I consider this to have been an excellent
character- and experience-building post.
100
19761979
Senior Sales Engineer, McEvoy Oilfield Equipment Ltd (then owned by
Rockwell Corp.) based Singapore, reporting to the Sales Manager in
Singapore
Sales and service of petroleum production equipment throughout the
Far East, India and Pakistan. This was my first expatriate assignment in
a pure sales role but also with some field service back-up responsibility
in support of other company bases in Malaysia and Brunei.
19731978
Sales and Service Manager, McEvoy Oilfield Equipment Ltd, based
Aberdeen, Scotland, reporting to the UK Sales Manager in London
Supervision of 3 sales and service engineers covering the companys
business in the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea.
Management of a service depot and basic repair and rework shop.
19661973
Peglar Hattersley and Newman Hender Ltd UK
Completed a college engineering course and moved to various
production and design positions in the valve-manufacturing departments of these companies. Finished in the design drawing office
and later the service departments engaged in international field
service work.
101
PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE HOME SECRETAR Y
Leadership and
personal
responsibility
I set up the Presidency team during the UK Presidency, and kept 5 staff motivated and largely in good
humour, whilst working at high pressure, for over a year, delivering a complex organisational requirement
for the Department.
Recruited staff whilst acting head of the police co-operation unit of the European Commission.
Leading team, motivating and showing good judgement.
As Private Secretary, I was responsible for the daily delivery of the Home Secretarys needs across a wide
range of subjects.
I am keen to encourage improved business processes through more effective use of new technologies.
I manage personal change proactively through regular job and organization changes. I have always
encouraged organizational change in my working environment: by setting up a unit in the European
Commission; by close involvement in the management of the Home Office International unit, including
having the main responsibility for staffing and organization.
In the Home Office International Unit I planned the 1998 UK Presidency of the EU.
In the European Commission, I developed its strategy on international police co-operation including Europol
and designed and delivered its strategy on Trafficking in Women, often working opposite more senior
colleagues from national administrations.
Achieving results of Analyzing information, planning strategy, managing change and delivering.
high quality and
As Private Secretary to the Home Secretary fast analysis of a wide range of issues was required. I had some
value
direct input into strategic work, for example, during the problems in 1999 at the UK Passport Office, when I
worked with senior management, and I had daily involvement in the Pinochet extradition case.
I have spent 10 years in the Civil Service after gaining my doctorate in law.
I make a difference through strategic guidance which empowers change, through creativity and by motivating my team.
I like to think that dynamic change happens in places I work. I only do jobs I enjoy so I tend to be good at them.
55 Orchard Road, London, UK

Tel: 44 (0) 20 xxxx xxxx, E-mail: marag@somewhere.com
DR MARA GOLDSTEIN
PITCH YOURSELF
Valuing the people

we work with and
their diversity
I recruited and trained staff in the Commission and the Home Office. I have worked with mainly female staff,
but have always sought the best person for the job.
Especially promoting equal opportunity, delegating effectively and developing staff.
I communicated the Home Secretarys views and requests to the department in writing and orally, and
attempted to persuade officials to do/not to do things.
I had extensive experience in minute writing as secretary to working group on Europol (minutes for all
member states), minute writer for the Commission for five working groups, and then minuting Home
Secretary meetings.
I did regular submissions for UK ministers as Presidency Co-ordinator.
I wrote the Commissions Communication on Trafficking in Women and was responsible for briefing senior
officials, Commissioners and MEPs on a range of police and other issues, both in writing and orally.
Being open and

Writing and speaking effectively and being able to persuade and influence others.
communicating well
I have much experience of speaking in public and presenting arguments as Commission Representative in
Council work groups. I made speeches on JHA matters for senior officials from Accession States.
Responsibility for the delivery of the Home Secretarys work required constant rapid adjustments, as in
previous roles.
I also had direct involvement in high profile issues, such as the Afghan hijack, by helping to develop and
implement strategy.
As Private Secretary, I developed a working relationship with much of the Department, trying to motivate
staff who were often working under pressure, to get delivery of the Home Secretarys requirements.
I held short seminars for other unit staff to involve them in the Presidency and ran Department wide
seminars and language training to encourage wider involvement.
Working in
partnership with
others
I developed ways of retaining relaxed relationships under pressure in Private Office.
I think I had generally good working relationships during the Presidency.
I was known as an effective operator in the European Commission, where much depends on contact and
communication. I encouraged colleagues to share information and work to common goals, and built a wide
network of colleagues around the EU.
Especially developing good working relationships and managing conflict.
I have always had to make decisions about priorities.
I encourage thrift in the office by use of standard class travel where appropriate, and set up internal
recycling schemes which saved natural resources and money. A Home Office paper saving initiative came
out at a monthly saving of 12 reams. This motivated other staff, who organized internal glass and plastic
recycling.
Financial Resources: during the Presidency, I had day to day responsibility for the Home Office entire
budget (reporting to Head of Unit). I negotiated with outside suppliers and local authorities and saved some
150,000 on predicted expenditure of 500,000.
I keep all available resources of all types under constant review.
Managing resources Getting the best from available resources and balancing resources and demands.
I trained and motivated unit staff through seminars and projects and have always delegated effectively when
staff available.
Whilst in the International Unit, I secured a new training budget and ensured all my staff attended
appropriate developmental training every year, including at least one day of external training, in addition to
organization of language training both in the unit and Home Office.
I recruited and trained 40 Presidency volunteers, giving development and experience to Home Office staff in
a wide variety of jobs. That group had high ethnic minority representation. After attending Race Equality
Workshops, I offered to provide shadowing experience for ethnic minority staff interested in working in a
Ministers Office and became an associate member of the Home Office Network.
PITCH YOURSELF
Career history
2001present
Other
I have received 4 awards and scholarships.
Music
I am a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chorus, Tallis Chamber Choir, New London
Chamber Choir and Joyful Company of Singers. I founded and sang in a highly successful madrigal choir
in Passau.
Languages
Native English, bilingual German and moderate French.
University Of Passau
19881992
Assistant in Law Faculty
Cabinet Office, Secondment to Home Office

19921994
Higher Executive Officer (Development Europe)
European Commission
19941997
Secondment to the Task Force on Justice and Home Affairs, Detached National Expert
Home Office
19971998
Presidency Co-ordinator 1998 UK Presidency of the EU
Home Office
19982001
Private Secretary to the Home Secretary
Deputy Head of European Union Department (internal)
Foreign & Commonwealth Office:
PITCH YOURSELF
CV MARA GOLDSTEIN
DOB/POB
10 March 19xx, Sheffield England
Experience
Since 9/2001 Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London SW1P
Deputy Head of European Union Department (Internal)
Overseeing departmental dossiers, briefs and submissions. Giving
strategic direction to team and priorities in the department.
10/19987/2001 Home Office, London SW1
Private Secretary to the Home Secretary
Particular responsibility for European and International Affairs,
Immigration and Asylum, Judicial Co-operation including Extradition, Family Policy.
7/19989/1998 Bundesministerium des Inneres, Austria
Secondment
Assisted with Presidency work on the 1998 Austria Presidency of the EU.
3/19976/1998 Home Office, London SW1
Presidency Co-ordinator for 1998 UK presidency of the EU
I was in charge of a section of 6 people with responsibility for the
logistical aspects of the Presidency, co-ordination of policy internally
and with other Government Departments, and liaison with the
Council Secretariat, UK Representation in Brussels, European
Commission and European Parliament. Responsibilities included
106
advice to Ministers on aspects of the Presidency, co-ordination of the
calendar of Brussels meetings, organization of UK based

meetings and training for Home Office staff. I also oversaw
inward and outward international Ministerial visits.
2/19941 /1997 European Commission, Brussels
Secondment to the Task Force on Justice and Home Affairs,
Detached National Expert
I helped establish the unit on Police Co-operation and represented
the Commission in Council Working Groups on Europol, Police
Co-operation, and Drugs and Organized Crime. Responsibilities
included preparation of Council meetings, liaison with Interpol,
support to Commissioners at European Parliament hearings, and
lecturing on the Third Pillar.
9/19922/1994 Cabinet Office, London
Higher Executive Officer (Development Europe)
Secondment to the Home Office. I was posted in the European
Police Secretariat, where I had an overview of TREVI Working
Groups II and III. I was secretary to the Ad Hoc Working Group
on EUROPOL, and was involved in the work on the draft
Convention to establish EUROPOL.
9/19889/1992 University of Passau
Assistant in the Law Faculty/ Part-time lectureship
Teaching British constitutional law and the English legal
system, with additional courses in British politics. In 1990, I was
offered a permanent full-time lectureship in English law (to
107
PITCH YOURSELF
Mara Goldsteins CV continued

administer and teach external LLB students), which I turned
down in order to complete my doctoral thesis.
8/1989: Hague Academy of International Law Summer Session
on the Law of Asylum.
Summer 1998: Research assistant to Dr R. O. Plender QC, revising
new edition of Plender and Ushers Cases and Materials on the
Law of the European Communities.

19891990 and 3/1992: Teaching beginners courses in English
language.
17/1987: Private tuition in English language for Abitur (A-level)
candidates.
19811987: Various summer and part-time jobs, including practical training with Boodle Hatfield Solicitors and much legal
secretarial work.
Education
7/1992 University of Passau, Germany
Dr Juris thesis on European Community Competence in the Law
of Asylum (Die Kompetenzen der Europaischen Gemeinschaften
zur Regelung des Asylrechts).
19841988 Kings College, London
7/1988 LLB, Dip. Ger. Law, AKC.
19867 Passau University, FRG, Germany
Diploma in German Law, awarded with 12.8 points out of 18, the
108
average being around 5.5.
198183 Kings School, Worcester

GCE A-Levels in German (A), English (B), Music (C).
GCE S-Level in German (Merit).
19701981 Sheffield High School for Girls
19811982 4 GCE O-Levels (A), 6 GCE O-Levels (B).
Awards
2/1997
1-month study visit of the USA at the invitation of the USA
Overseas Visitors Programme. Participation in the Young
European Leaders project.
7/1993
1500-ECU publication grant for doctoral thesis from the
Commission of the European Communities.
19861987
Scholarship from the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany
to aid legal studies in Germany.
19861987
Scholarship from the Erasmus programme of the European
Communities to aid legal studies in Germany.
Languages Native English, bilingual German, moderate French.
109
PITCH YOURSELF
Mara Goldsteins CV continued

Additional qualifications/skills
5/1982 Full Driving Licence.
4/1984 Secretarial Diploma from Sight and Sound College
including Typing at 60 wpm, Shorthand at 80 wpm and Word
Processing.
Further achievements and interests
8/1994 Participant in Young Konigswinter Anglo-German Forum.
7/1993 Participation in the Wilton Park Young Anglo-German
Forum, administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
19901991 Committee membership of the Studenten fur Passau,
a non-aligned political party in the local elections.
19891990 Secretary of the Passauer Studentendorf e.V.
19871988 Secretary of the Kings College/Passau Society.
19841985 Participation in the Kings College Borstal Project.
Music
I am a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chorus,
Tallis Chamber Choir, New London Chamber Choir and Joyful
Company of Singers. Whilst in Passau I founded and sang in a
highly successful madrigal choir. As a student, I was on the
committee for the University of London Music Society and
librarian for the University of London Choir and at school I
organized the 6th form music society. I have been a member of
many choirs, including the National Youth Choir, and used to be
principal oboe player for the Midland Youth Orchestra and
110
Worcester Cathedral Chamber Orchestra. I have qualifications in

Associated Board Grade VIII Distinction Oboe, Grade VI Singing
and Grade V Piano.
Sport
1981 Captain of the tennis team at Sheffield High School.
111
BUSINESS COMMUNICATOR
Played key role in building team, client portfolio and revenues of young PR agency, helping to exploit highgrowth web and mobile commerce market opportunities. Directly responsible for revenues in 2000 of more
than 850K nearly half the agency total. An aggressive growth strategy culminated in Gnash Communications being named the UKs fastest growing PR consultancy, April 2001.
Reflecting a VC clients conservative approach to media, created work-around programmes to meet PR

objectives. A portfolio outreach programme significantly raised the profile of the clients investments and
thereby the clients own profile. Programme was subsequently used as a model by clients agencies in other
markets.
Pioneered the concept of viral PR in the UK. Developed the programme and team to create cost-effective
campaigns for clients, including Financial Times, Virgin Mobile, Lastminute.com and Hoovers Online.
Developed an anti-jargon campaign for Hoovers that resulted in a sustained 30% rise in site usage and a
busy pipeline of subscription sales leads.
Solves problems
Entrepreneurial
Thinks strategically Identified a gap in the market for PR services to support start-up companies, devised a set of new products
to extend Gnashs offering. These include pan-European best-practice agency network; position workshop;
communications plan boot camp; agency search and selection; and viral PR programme. These services
added more than 3/4m to agency revenues over 18 months.
Focuses on the
commercial
My experience ranges from positioning and launching software products for blue-chip companies to helping build the brands and
media profiles of many innovative new businesses to running one of the UKs most talked about PR companies. My fascination
with evolving media channels, grasp of technology and its implications on how we work and live, and cross-cultural interests fuel
my career ambitions.
I am a strategic business communicator with a proven ability to exploit commercial opportunities. A respected people manager
and team player, I have guided teams of up to 20 consultants to excel. With a broad understanding of the marketing mix and of
new media channels, I apply classic principles to new ways of doing business. I am a creative and innovative problem solver who
gets results.
The Mews House, London, UK

Tel: 44 (0) 20 xxxx xxxx, E-mail: nmprender@yahoo.co.uk
NANCY M. PRENDERGAST
PITCH YOURSELF
Gnash Communications
Co-managing director from April 2001
Board director, October 1999 April 2001
Career chronology
Education
Spearheaded the creation of a motivational partner programme to speed consultants growth within a flat
organizational structure. Programme includes an extensive six-part annual review, targeted PR and
management training, peer review and partner compensation package including share options.
Leads creatively
Saint Louis University, Madrid Spain, Spanish Language and Culture, 1982
University of Massachusetts, Boston, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Spanish, Magna Cum
Laude, 1984
Emerson College, Master of Arts, Mass Communication, 1990
Bronner Schlosberg Humphrey

Account executive, direct marketing, 1984-1987
Lotus Development Corp

Consultant, Corporate Communications, October 1989 January 1992
Lois Paul & Partners

Senior account manager, Technology March 1992 June 1995
Ogilvy Adams & Rinehart

Account director, pan-European accounts, September 1995 May 1996
Independent Consultant
Clients included Lotus Development Corp (USA); Welsh Slate; and Ketchum PR, April 1996 March 1998
Financial Times
Consultant marcomms manager, FT.com, March 1998 October 1999
Broad understanding of online and offline media channels, including web, wireless, terrestrial and digital
TV, radio and print. Has run campaigns designed to maximize client exposure on one or many. For FT.com,
helped to create print, web and television advertising campaigns to reposition the site and drive up levels of
traffic from 7 million to 20 million page views per month.
Knows media
EFFECTIVE CATALYST
Generated innovative one-stop motoring portal strategic interactive offering for News Ltd. Produced a
comprehensive business plan encompassing all aspects from costs, head count, potential revenue growth,
to the fully specified functionality for the portal.
Initiated and implemented the online e-commerce strategy that broadened the potential pet insurance
portfolio by 694 million pa an increase of 488%.
Project management Managed direct, indirect reports and 3rd party suppliers at GEIH, CIA & IMP resulting in projects running to
and relationship
time and on budget.
building
Built long standing client relationships, with Packard Bell and BT through several different roles.
Entrepreneurial
and commercial
Created an integrated web presence for Fairfax, one of Australias leading media groups, that revolutionized
the media planner buyer and publishing house relationship. The Internet became the Intranet became the
Extranet in a smooth flow of efficiencies.
Creative and
Optimized small budget through pioneering viral marketing campaign for Australias leading chocolate
innovative solutions confectionery Tim Tams. Achieved cult status and notoriety and endorsed by Tim Tams aficionados
generating self perpetuating PR.
I bring zest for life to my work and make ideas happen. 14 years of practical, integrated marketing ideas generation for both
clients and advertising agencies across the world.
215 West Hill, Brighton BN1, UK

Mobile: 44 (0) xxx xxx xxx, Home: 44 (0) 1273 222222, E-mail: billf@talk21.com
BILL FAUST
PITCH YOURSELF
Studied current and future content and services from a customer and commercial point of view to the
adoption and advancement of new technology. Produced a strategy document highlighting commercially
viable revenue generation in a marketplace that nears full penetration of mobile devices.
Wrote the strategy document for Oranges Mobile Portal. Understanding the issues facing the mobile
telecommunications market, from the key drivers which influence the use of the mobile platform to new
revenue models.
19971998 UK
19961997 UK
19951996 UK
19911995 UK
19901991 France
19871990 UK
Head of Interactive CIA (largest media independent agency)
Head of Sales and Marketing IMP (top 5 SP agency)
Director, Int Marketing YITM (Yorkshire TV)
Account Director U/C/M Ltd
Rights Manager Bayard Presse Paris
Advertisement Manager Haymarket Publishing
Business French: Acquired for the role at Bayard Presse in Paris
19981999 Australia
New Media Director Bates Australia
Languages
19992000 UK
E-Marketing Director GEIH (part of GE Capital)
Business Studies: Bournemouth University.
2001 to date UK
Interim Projects and author of Pitch Yourself
Education
Career history
Idea generation
Co-authored the title Pitch Yourself a radical way to sell yourself to potential new employers.
and implementation Pitched and delivered concept to the publisher, Pearson Education delivered the book in mid-2002.
Strategic thinker
LEADER WHO BELIEVES 1 + 1 SHOULD NOT ALWAYS EQUAL 2
Coaching and
team building
Commercial
acumen & resultsdriven
Creativity,
tenacity and
reourcefulness
Excellent leader and manager of agency partners exceptional in growing others their words not mine.
Being dependable, hard working and energetic I make everyone around me become better and work harder.
Excellent at creating climate in which people can learn, by making each individual feel their
importance in building consensus.
Delivered results scaled the business and drove key objectives from global sponsorship, maximizing partners to
leveraging budgets at Dell. Initiated new working practice for an alliance partnership generating exposure 23x
greater than initial Dell investment.
Led new business teams to win accounts e.g. Mizuno and Muji, at Hakuhodo.
At Letsbuyit.com I improved overall e-commerce KPIs through new customer acquisition strategy
driving propensity to purchase, decreasing acquisition costs fivefold, increasing repeat purchase
nearly 200% and improving overall quality of traffic to site and therefore dramatically driving revenue stream.
By building the worlds largest live mobile pager I helped NEC Pagers become ubiquitous in Russia.
Designed and implemented new collateral strategy that reduced cost y/y 45%, scaled into Asia and USA
delivering further regional economies.
Initiated and delivered a series of symbiotic partnership deals which created Dells first global sponsorship
property with BMW at Le Mans 1999, generating multi million $ global exposure for zero cost and
deliveringrobust television campaign over one year in Germany, again, at no cost.
16 years in international, customer facing roles, integrated marketing and leadership of third party relationships across borders and
cultures, gained in both start ups as well as US and Asian blue chip organizations.
Penny Meadow, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire

Tel: 44 (0) 161 xxx xxxx, E-mail: michael_faust@ftnetwork.com
Lateral thinking leader with collaborative yet challenging style. Placing a high value on integrity and trust I question, I persevere and
influence others to step change the status quo often going the extra mile.
MICHAEL FAUST
PITCH YOURSELF
Education
Career history
Organizational
agility and
customer focus
Bath University, Upper 2nd Class Honours, Economics
Advertising Agencies
19861998
From Hakuhodo (Japans number 2 agency and top 10 global communications agency, 19931998),
MarketShare (1991 to 1993), YellowHammer (1989 to 1991) to Saatchi & Saatchi (1986 to 1989)
Head of Corporate Brand Strategy EMEA, Dell

19982000
Worlds leading direct computer company and worlds most successful e-business. Led creative, research and
media agencies across Europe, budget $40m, helping to define Dells new
e-commerce global positioning
European Marketing Director, Letsbuyit.com

200020001
Europes leading B2C group buying internet retailer. Led 33 strong marketing team and agency partners across
14 markets in creation of internal and external marketing strategy and revenue generation.
Interim Manager and Author

20012002
Strategic European marketing consultancy for establishing internet companies
Co-author of Pitch Yourself, published by Pearson Education
Managing Director, Travelcare

2002onwards
Full P&L responsibility for UKs largest independent travel agency, 400m+, multi distribution retailer with 370
branches, 1800 staff and 5% UK market share
Several quotes: I do not think you can get a better deal from any other, we shall go ahead, the campaign
has been a huge success. GREAT!!! and Dell was really very dominant congratulations to a very smart
and successful deal
The intangible benefits of the BMW/Dell deal include being one of the highest visited sites on the EMEA intranet
demonstrating enhanced staff morale and motivation especially in Germany and France. Merchandise giveaways (several thousand books and cars) delivered enhanced customer affinity.
Success gained in range of working environments, cultures and style from decentralized Dell
matrix to dynamic dotcom can do start-up via blue chip Asian organizations.
16 years of customer facing roles all aimed at creating intimacy and delivering ROI both
internally and externally.
COMMERCIAL AIRLINE PILOT (BOEING 737)
An airline pilot, especially an aspiring captain, must show leadership and commercial awareness in the
management of the day-to-day operation, providing a safe, efficient service. The ability to make decisions is
based on available information, experience and intuition. I take a leading role and seek to discuss steps I
would take in resolving situations that arise. This results in the building of experience and confidence,
providing a greater number of appropriate suggestions on operational issues.
It is essential to build a mental model of your surroundings. Continual monitoring of the aircraft systems,
maintaining spatial awareness, and constant liaison with all crew including passengers increases my
capacity to deal with any event.
It is essential to organize my tasks effectively to reduce my workload and increase my capacity. I have the
presence of mind and forethought to prioritize and carry out multiple tasks simultaneously whilst
maintaining accuracy. This is achieved by planning actions, working logically and thinking ahead. I am then
of greater assistance to my captain and can maintain smooth operation of the service.
Ability to lead
Situational
awareness and
lateral thinking
Organizational
ability and agility
I worked in industry for six years as a chartered civil engineer prior to becoming an airline pilot 4 years ago.
I continually increase my ability to deal with fast moving complex situations, whilst inspiring confidence in others around me.
I have developed a solid foundation in safety procedures and people management.
Jupiter Laan 64, 1644XS Haarlem, NL

Tel: 23 (0) 429 xxxx, E-mail: marc@skyport.nl
MARC SCHAVEMAKER
PITCH YOURSELF
To maintain a good overall situational awareness and create an effective harmonious team, it is important to
create an open and efficient working environment utilizing Crew Resource Management. This maximizes
the effectiveness of the whole crew. I must recognize the skills of others and complement them to my own
through consultation and delegation, furthering our skill base. The result is to reduce the workload of all
crew members, providing an increased capacity to focus on safety and efficiency.
British Airways
Ability to promote
good teamwork
Career history
Education
I must be fundamentally familiar with the aircraft. I have an awareness and willingness to keep up-to-date
with the aircraft systems and handling characteristics. When situations allow, I make the most of handling
the aircraft. I study regularly to keep abreast of all relevant material, ensuring I am up to date with all
aspects of the aircrafts technical data. This increases my confidence of the aircrafts capabilities, allowing
me to be better prepared for all scenarios.
Technical and
practical aptitude
Civil Engineering degree
NRA & Environment Agency
199198
1998present
In the aviation industry it is essential to convey and receive information succinctly. I use effective briefing
techniques that are imperative for a successful flight from the ground up (and down again). I have an
approachable style and carry out my tasks in accordance to the Standard Operating Procedures, whilst
liaising with all my fellow crew in an open and co-operative manner, resulting in a reduction of inherent risk
and shared knowledge.
Effective
communications
SEASONED INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PROFESSIONAL
Business strategist
Innovative business
initiatives
Leading, coaching,
developing and
exporting skills
and learning
Devised the business strategy. Planned and managed the implementation to create a structure and re-engineer
Created a completely new, nationally, regionally and internationally awarded business model for evolving and
generating new levels of success and profitability, bringing together and implementing a unique working culture
and approach that delivered growth, diversification and a foundation for future success.
Helped transform a traditional organization into an industry leader and an enviable growth achiever,
when the traditional revenue streams were facing a considerable downturn.
Implemented a greater exchange and dialogue in these evolving specialist business areas internationally,
working in sympathy with the developing global vision and a global IPO environment.
Created and successfully implemented the first business model of its type, assisting with developing skills
and personnel to be placed in roles throughout the region in order to further expand these skills and
learning into those markets. Leo Integrated became a catalyst for their evolution.
Grew a group of individual specialist businesses in marketing communications, pre-production, production

processing and digital cross-platform creation mediums that operated as a total resources unit. Merged
Communicate@ with a traditional multinational to create their integrated structure after 8 years of independent
operation.
Developed multi-faceted integrated campaigns to a very diverse range of clients across a broad spectrum of
industries, including Reckitt & Colman Group, Digital, Castlemaine Perkins, SmithKline Beecham, Pfizer
Healthcare, Roche, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Metway Bank, Parke Davis, CSIRO, Eli Lilly, Woods Bagot, Telstra,
Coles Myer, Fosseys and Meditech.
Innovative solutions Created one of the first boutique complete integrated independent marketing communications agencies,
Communicate@, incorporating full production and an extensive range of marketing, advertising, planning and
execution services.
For 20 years, I have worked extensively on a national, regional and international basis with a broad range of organizations in both client
and agency environments, including successfully developing and some years later merging my own business with a multinational
operation.
I thrive on challenges. I am an innovative business builder, re-engineering through people not processes, and taking my clients with
me. By bringing together a broad base of eclectic talents and skills to create driven teams, I provide creative and inspiring pragmatic
solutions.
50 Carabella St, Balgowlah Heights, Sydney, 2062, Australia

Tel: 61 (0) 2 99 xxx xxx, E-mail: markb@sydney.com.au
MARK BAILEY
PITCH YOURSELF
Leo Burnett/bcom3 Australia

1997present
National director integrated solutions
Career history
19831986
South British United Insurance Group

Marketing co-ordinator
Nestl
19791981
New Products Officer
Westpac Bank
19811983
National Advertising Co-ordinator
Faberge
Marketing Manager
19771979
19871989
Pizza Hut Australasia

19861987
Senior Brand Marketing Manager
The Promotional Marketplace

Associate Director
19891997
Enabled an organization to transform to a stronger customer-centric focus, created a significant cultural and
operational change, maintaining core traditional values and enhancing these with revolutionary new values for
a significantly evolved environment, working closely with global operations, experience and vision to reinvent
best practice.
Re-engineering
and change
management
Communicate @ Marketing Communications Agency

Managing Partner
Management of major account groups and co-ordination of creative and other specialist resources to
develop and implement strategies for client projects and campaigns. Actively involved in leading new
business pitch teams. Part of the Fortune Group, including SSB, DFS & Weston Advertising Agencies, working
with these agencies, key mainstream clients, such as Toyota, and with direct clients to provide integrated
services. Through a leading below the line/integrated agency specializing in full service provision of complete
client needs, including sales promotion, direct/relationship marketing, sports and sponsorship marketing,
merchandizing and POS, and sales incentive programmes. Solely responsible for securing Revlon, Ferrero,
Chase AMP Bank.
Integration,
resource and
team management
Created a profitable business model dedicated to quality, best-practice delivery, productive resource
management, and cross-channel implementation, resulting in a total business revenue contribution that grew
from 0 to 40%+ within 4 years.
the traditional business. Introduced an all-encompassing integrated group of 8 new specialist marketing
business units to provide additional services in the areas of sales promotions, direct/CRM, digital and interactive,
events/PR, healthcare marketing, design, B2B/technology and Communications architecture strategy.
SALES PROFESSIONAL
Relationship/
partnership
building
Ability to spot
trends, freestyle
frenzie
Sales negotiation
I did this by maintaining an excellent local knowledge of ongoing and future proposed projects.
This has produced a solid customer base that keeps on returning to us time after time, as evidenced by the
2m sales turnover.
I generated and developed long-term relationships based on trust that increased both loyalty and
sales of BSS (UK) Ltd.
The company was successfully sold as a going concern in the first quarter of 2001.
To ensure success and the fulfilment of my goal, there were many aspects to be considered: spotting trends,
achieving guests figure on the door, the building of an effective and efficient database, ensuring the
ambience was measured and matched against the expectations of our guests, the sourcing of new music
and venues. I needed to be sure of the best way to approach new guests and existing guests via sales and
promotional campaigns, watching carefully the profit and loss ratio.
I could see an opportunity to develop and build up my own dance company with the view to sell it as a viable
and commercial business concern.
This has resulted in healthy gross profit margins and a satisfied loyal customer base.
The achievement of successful sales whilst maintaining maximum gross profit for the company. I have a
sound knowledge of the competition, the parameters they have to work within, and their quoting
procedures. I need to ensure the customer purchases from BSS (UK) Ltd without loss of profit margin by
using other parameters apart from price to negotiate a successful sale.
10 years of results-driven sales experience coupled with the ability to deliver commercially viable sales strategies.
I care passionately and understand my clients business.
The Stables Lock, Yaynings, UK

Tel: 44 (0)1592 xxx xxxx, E-mail: lou@freestyle.com
LOUISE MEDLEY
PITCH YOURSELF
Career history
To be successful in the field, I need to implement effective and constructive internal procedures that
maintain the smooth running of the sales territory.
Internal sales
planning and
procedures
Freestyle Frenzie
Set up and sold
19982001
BSS (UK) Ltd

19912001
Sales representative
I pay particular attention to all my quotes ensuring the details are correct.
Careful analysis of sales trends allows me to provide targeted product support optimizing my time in
the field.
To provide a complete bespoke sales solution for individual customer needs, I must understand their needs
and requirements on specific projects and on an ongoing basis to provide the best support and sales service
possible.
The production of an individually tailored sales plan in conjunction with client input to successfully combine
our products and services to fit neatly to their projects. This in turn has led to an increase in customer
confidence and ultimately a greater sales volume exceeding my targets by 20%.
Customer sales
consultancy
MAYOR OF LONDON
The 7 billion Cross Rail Heathrow to Docklands project demonstrates my total commitment to building
successful working relationships across the private and public sectors (central government, city and local
councils).
I give my commitment. I never withdraw it even if I might like to change my mind. I strive to gain a
consensus of opinion and act accordingly.
I am not afraid to employ giants. The only important issue is to get the very best person to take on the
challenge and fulfil the role to its full potential. The London Underground is a classic example. One of my
proudest achievements was getting Bob Kiley, a giant in urban transport who reformed the New York
subway, to join my team.
I was elected to make a difference. I made a promise to ease the congestion in the Capital and congestion
charges for traffic entering the Capital are the answer. I believe in it and believe it is best for London.
Government ministers urged me to delay this decision until after the next mayoral election. I went ahead
and kept my promise because I believe Londoners have a right to see if it works before they vote again.
Employing giants
Quick decision
making
Long-range thinking My experience running the GLC taught me about the need to think many years ahead in turning concepts
into structured policies. Transport policies for the Capital are not overnight fixes. To successfully solve the
Capitals transport issues I need to exercise interlocking policies that vary in size, manner and approach
from 5 to 15 years.
Gaining loyalty and

building working
relationships
Proven by a 14-year career as a Member of the UK Parliament for the Labour Party and now as the Independent Mayor for London.
Running the City of London is my dream job. I am 100% committed to improving the life of each and every Londoner. I lead from
the front getting to the root of each issue. I am prepared to stand up to big government for the people of London.
KEN LIVINGSTONE
PITCH YOURSELF
Napoleon said he sacked generals if they were not lucky. You need luck and you need tactics. I stood as an
independent in the London Mayoral Election. Ten weeks out, four of my five key advisors said I would lose as
the press would destroy me. However the press concentrated on my Labour opposition Frank Dobson for
the first nine of the ten weeks. Only in the last week did the press turn their attention on me. Luck or
Tactics? The right tactics generate luck.
Author of
Career history
19872000
19811986
19731981
19781982
19711978
19631971
Labour MP for Brent East
Elected Leader of the GLC
Elected Labour member of the GLC
Member of Camden Council
Labour Member of Lambeth Council
Technician, Chester Beatty Cancer Research Institute
Livingstones Labour
If Voting Changed Anything Theyd Abolish It
2000present
Elected Mayor of London as an Independent
Dealing with conflict Find out the real issue or grievance and solve it. Do not drag it out. Find the common ground. State what is
impossible. You are left with what is possible and you get straight to the point.
Tactician
FOUNDER OF PARTYTASTIC.COM
This is further demonstrated during the start-up phase of Partytastic.com, proving my aptitude to specify and
design the Partytastic.com website. A scalable membership-management system to support an exponentially
growing membership base. This very system has provided the backbone in marketing, showing clearly the
trends of people going to Partytastic parties, and has led to the continued sponsorship of one of the largest
drinks manufacturers in the world, Diageo (UDV/Guinness).
Drawing on an inherent technical ability, whilst at COLT Telecommunications, I excelled at clearly

understanding business objectives and providing high-level, resilient Internet solutions for customers. This
secured sales in excess of 250K.
Integration and
consolidation
The project was to provide an international channel management layer for Colts operations throughout
Europe. I established the international processes and practices to enable successful pan-European Internet
hosting deals. My team exceeded the 5m target by 20%, setting a new standard in the industry for singlepoint pan-European Internet sales.
Company builder
Established a successful events company, Partytastic.com. It has a rapidly growing membership base of
and commercial
1200, regular events, and an Internet site receiving over 600 unique visitors a day. To achieve the current
awareness,
success, rigorous budgetary control and attention to detail were and are needed.
Partytastic.com (UK)
Technical aptitude
12 years in high-profile technical and international sales roles and more recently founded an innovative Internet-based company,
Partytastic, one of Londons premier party events company.
I am an entrepreneur ever eager and able to grasp ideas with both hands whilst only catching those ideas that generate new and
exciting commercial opportunities.
Flat 10, The Lofthouse, Docklands, London, UK

Tel: 44 (0) 207 xxx xxx, E-mail: darren.fell@partytastic.com
DARREN FELL
PITCH YOURSELF
Partytastic.com
2000present
Owner/Managing Director
Career history
19961998
19891995
Morse Computers
Account Manager
Cable & Wireless
Bates Australia
19981999
E-Commerce Director,
GX Networks
19992000
Account Manager
20002001
To employ, train and develop a highly efficient and effective sales team. The primary goal was to generate
the entire revenue for the start-up Internet services provider by the direct salesforce and the creation of a
reseller channel. This resulted in sales revenues increasing by over 500% month on month for the first year.
Results-driven
Colt Internet
European Account Manager
Created a sales strategy to enable high-value e-commerce activity for our customer base. Built a
partnership with a systems integrator. I established best working practices between the facilitys company
and systems integrator to bid and successfully win business with budgets of a minimum of $500K Australian
dollars.
Strategic sales
developer
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Communicating
effectively
(written and oral)
Ability to manage
successfully
Provide weekly detailed operations reports to the MD of Infoline Conferences ensuring the effective
day-to-day running of the business.
I manage the operational logistics for producing business-to-business conferences from their inception
through to completion.
Remote management of the agents in Tunisia, ensuring delivery dates would be met and approval was
achieved from the client Marks and Spencer.
Managed the complete office refurbishment for Infoline Conferences. Managed and co-ordinated the design,
building contractors and the architects. This was completed on time and on budget.
The ability to see

Set up a clothing-manufacturing unit in Tunisia for the UK-based supplier to Marks & Spencer. Saw through
clearly through mist all the bureaucratic red tape resulting in successful launch of the unit on time.
14 years of pragmatic operating management applications in the creative world of fashion and business..
I get the job done. I dont drop the ball. I cut a clear pathway through demanding commercial projects.
66 The Look Out, Birling Gap, Sussex, UK

Tel: 44 (0) 321 xxx xxx, E-mail: justinecobb@justinecobb.co.uk
JUSTINE COBB
PITCH YOURSELF
Career history
Managing people
effectively
London College of Fashion
19831987
Jaeger Tailoring Ltd

19871990
Designer/Pattern Cutter
19901999
1999present
Claremont Garments (M&S supplier)

Technical/Quality Manager
Infoline Conferences Ltd

Operations Manager
Managed their career progress by encouraging them to develop new skills with the company with the assurance
of my aid at all times and encouraged them to think for themselves and take on the responsibility for their
actions.
Co-ordinated a team of designers, graders, fabric technicians and production schedulers ensuring we met
the high quality standards of Marks & Spencer. Weekly production meetings and one-to-one daily meetings
moulded a team that worked effectively and knowledgeably.
CEO OF I-LEVEL
Cofounded i-level plc in late 1998 on a shoestring budget. With my business partner, built the agency up to be
the UK No.1 online media agency within one year, where it remains. Made a profit in every year of operation,
including the hard times. Zero staff turnover to other agencies in the whole three-year period.
Despite gaining one of the UKs first BSc degrees in marketing in 1983, I went off to form a band and came quite
close to making it. Youll have to ask London Records what went wrong. Eventually came upon advertising as a
suitable industry for my skills at the tender age of 26 (Im 40 now).
Work/life balance i-level is run according to these principles. Except in dire emergencies, I dont approve of
weekend or late-night working. If this persists, it means that either the company is taking the piss with the
workload, or that the employee is not organized well enough both need fixing.
Business builder
Opportunist
People
under-stander
I love my family more than I love my work. I have a life and, in getting the balance right, my work is all the better for it. This is the only
way I know how to work. I understand marketing, I understand business planning, and I understand people. I seem to be able to get
the best out of people. I motivate them. They make the company work. The results follow naturally when you get it right. I dont mind
failing, but I do hate it when people havent tried. My skill is as a company Chief Executive Officer and entrepreneur.
i-level, 2630 Strutton Ground, London SW1P 2HR

Tel: 44 (0) 207 3402 700
CHARLIE DOBRES
Career history
Inspiration
1998present
19951997
Account Manager Lowe Howard Spink
MD Low Interactive
19971998
19901995
General Secretary, Internet Advertising Bureau
CEO founder, i-level plc
Nelson Mandela
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is
our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be? Your playing small doesnt serve the world. Theres nothing
enlightening about shrinking so that other people wont feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. Its not just in some of us; its in
everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As
were liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
OWNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF GOOD TECHNOLOGY
An obsessive fear of failure constantly drives me.
I surround myself with those that can do the job better than me.
The single most important thing to me is to try to understand, anticipate and motivate people. I may be
paranoid, but it helps ensure everyone that counts is on your side and is working with you and not for you.
Ensuring a commercial opportunity gets realized is often overlooked as a skill, but in my view its as
important (if not more so) as the original idea. If I had a motto (which I hasten to add I wouldnt), it might be
something along the lines of, Dont sit there talking about it, do it!
I have spent much of my working life proving to others that not only was there a gap in the market but,
importantly, also a market in the gap. From my early years as a graduate trainee within the music industry,
to the founding and running of my own business, it has been a recurring theme in my life.
Managing creativity This enabled me to develop my skills as a team player, co-ordinating those responsible for the creation
and delivery of the product to the consumer. This provided me with my first taste of the commercial world
and how to deal with that most unpredictable commodity, creative talent!
Minding the gap
332b Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AH

Tel: 44 (0) 207 565 0022, E-mail: Richard.davies@goodtech.co.uk
RICHARD DAVIES
PITCH YOURSELF
Career history
How?
Being my own boss
19871990
19901994
Marketing Manager MCA Records
Biochemistry degree, UMIST
1994present
People focused
Challenging convention
Informal
Discipline
MD and owner Good Technology
A strict set of values that I adhere to at all times:
Finally, it has instilled self-belief and a determination to succeed.
It has taught me to question constantly what I am doing and to learn from my mistakes.
This has given me the experience in every aspect of running a company, most notably building a team and
dealing with the everyday people-management requirements.
CEO OF MAJOR PLAYERS LTD
I take my risks outside work on motorcycles, not with peoples careers inside!
I set up, run and own Major Players Ltd, the UKs leading marketing and services recruitment consultancy.
That was my apprenticeship; the next 9 years to date have been making rain in the fields of recruitment, training and HR.
My next three sponge years were spent in a fast-growing marketing services agency, where I acted as a catalyst to one of the
brightest, yet fatally flawed, men alive. I learnt how to build a strong team, pull together all their skill sets, and genuinely make
the sum of the parts better than the individuals.
My three years in the corporate life didnt suit me, although I raped and pillaged as much knowledge as I possibly could and left
with great mentors on how and how not to build brands and get the most from people.
My background is both corporate (Mobil Oil graduate trainee) and latterly entrepreneurial.
These statements sum up my career and also my aspirations.
My style is built upon classic northern Protestant ethics of hard work, hard play. My pillars and values show fun, professionalism,
trust, high morals and sharing.
Caution: rainmaker at work!
7375 Endell St, London WC2H 9AJ

Tel: 44 (0) 207 836 4041, E-mail: jack@majorplayers.co.uk
JACK GRATTON
PITCH YOURSELF
How the EP answers a job brief

The following job description and tailored Elevator Pitch was for a
regional sales manager.
A full job description was analyzed to ascertain what qualifications and
transferable assets the company required.
There is a prerequisite qualification for this position the applicant must
be a current registered and qualified veterinary nurse with a minimum
of seven years experience in practice. You will see how this has been
covered in her Personal Promise.
A detailed knowledge of selling into the veterinary practices is a further
requirement. This too is highlighted in her Personal Promise via the
introduction of the most significant Transferable Assets. This will be
further elaborated and evidenced in the Elevator Pitch used to answer
this job brief.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job title: Sales Manager
Location: Field and Office based
Reports to: Sales Director
Purpose of role:
Provide a direct influence in practices to endorse the products
and brands.
135
PITCH YOURSELF
To communicate the benefits of the brand and product range

resulting in increased recommendations, sales and distribution
throughout practices in the region.
Responsibilities:
Develop and maintain high levels of comprehension of the products
and their uses coupled to the business initiatives through training and
current market activity.
Represent the company to veterinary practices as a partner of choice.
Development of strategic product and sales plans for both the
practice and the consumer.
Implementation of the companys sales and marketing activities:
Set practice objectives for the coming year.
Deliver professional sales support to meet set objectives.
Continual monitoring.
Represent the company at the industry conferences and events.
Accurate and current records for all practice in the region.
Work and perform to the key performance indicators.
Work within the agreed budgetary parameters.
Qualifications:
Veterinary nurse with a minimum of 7 years experience.
Excellent knowledge of small-animal and equine veterinary practices.
Previous sales environment, preferably selling directly to veterinary
practices.
136
In essence, the role is a field-based consultative sales position. Laura,

who applied for this role needed to use Transferable Assets that portray
relationship-building and consultative-selling techniques.
The role requires a measured and intellectual approach. It stresses the
importance of partnerships, relationships, strategies, customers and
the ability to influence.
After careful analysis of the job description, Laura successfully
highlighted the following Transferable Assets on her Elevator Pitch.
Commercial awareness
Building and influencing relationships
Effective and efficient communicator
Ability to negotiate
Organizational agility
137
PET INSURANCE SALES REPRESENTATIVE
This led to support via product and in-house staff training, helping the practice staff become more
knowledgeable about how pet insurance can be beneficial to both the pet owners and the practices. The
staff became more confident in the recommendation of pet insurance to their clients. 444 out of 700
practices in the region became strategic partners.
I actively built strategic partnerships where we become the insurance company of choice. I had to ascertain
which practices were forward-thinking and insurance-minded.
Commercial
awareness
The monies were used to produce practice brochures, sponsor open days and produce advertising
campaigns. This resulted in an incremental increase in the number of pet insurance policies sold via the
participating practices
I set the promotion and advertising budgets by analyzing practice trends and deciding where the marketing
budget could be best used.
Effective and
Certificate in City and Guilds Coaching & Assessing Individuals. This is awarded to those teaching and
efficient
working with candidates for their vocational NVQ (National Vocational Qualification).
communicator:
professional
teaching qualification
Building and
influencing
relationships
I have a calm and considered approach to my life. Proven relationship builder and qualified veterinary nurse of 11 years. If I could,
I would ride my horse to work.
Helicopter House, Merryfield, Nr Taunton, Somerset

E-mail: Laura@aelsewhere.co.uk
LAURA NEILSON
PITCH YOURSELF
I had to gain the required shelf space to promote the insurance products in practices throughout my region.
Matching the practice needs to the features and benefits and back-up systems of the product ensuring a
smooth flow of efficiencies. Provisions were made for both an award/ incentive scheme for the staff and the
practice, as well as ensuring efficient running of back-end processes, for example on receipt of a claim
payments being made to the practice within 48hrs etc.
Professional
qualifications
Career history
19982001
Veterinary Nursing Diploma

Certificate in City & Guilds Coaching & Assessing Individuals
The Veterinary Group 19891998

Head Veterinary Nurse
GEFI (part of GE Capital)

Regional Veterinary Manager
An efficient practice where vets could be vets. Ensured nursing staff available for theatre, consulting,
laboratory, hospitalized patients, practice administration including small-animal claims forms, nursing
rotas, and on-call out-of-hours duties. Made time available for practice nurses and resources for the
dispensing of drugs and the teaching of student nurses..
Developed new staff rotas. Created optimal business mix. Freed up additional 20 hours a month of time for
every four employees.
Efficient marshalling To lead and ensure the smooth running of a team of 7 nurses in a busy mixed country practice.
of resources
Benchmark similar practices around the country. Looked at previous two years vet practice management
(who does what, where, when, why). Found seasonal trend.
Ability to influence
6
chapter
Summary and
conclusion
Todays
head on.
141
PITCH YOURSELF
The job market has changed hugely over the last couple of decades
and promises to continue doing so. The 21st century is offering more
challenges than we ever could have anticipated. There is one simple
thing that has not changed over the centuries, our own curiosity and
exploration of our surroundings, from physical features to academic
understanding and the thirst for knowledge. Our ambition to understand how and why things work and how to get there even more quickly
than we had before.
Use of technology in the business environment has leapt forward
touching all our lives whatever industry or job function we are
pursuing. These technological advances have changed the way our
careers will progress in the present and future. The careers we follow
have taken on new and different meanings. Mankind has explored
avenues in the fields of science and business that once would have been
deemed impossible. These advances will, of course, continue.
Demands from the employers have changed. The idea of the career
for life is no longer on offer for a majority of the workforce in todays
environment. There are of course, a minority of exceptions. Permanent
positions are offered but according to industry sources the average time
spent in a general marketing position, for example, is just a little over
two years.
Employees demands have also changed. You are not in general looking
for a job for life in one company. You are looking for a career and the
development of that career. You will move and gain experi-ence in many
roles.
This encourages employers to look for different skill sets than in the
past. The changing business climate has led them to analyze their activ-
142
S U M M A R Y A N D C O N C LU S I O N
ities. They then decide which core competencies and the ratios of these
it had and would need to perform at an optimum business level.
With all these changes taking place, the CV has been a constant feature
of the employment scene. There have been numerous changes in its
layout and the emphasis placed on different aspects of careers. But
fundamentally, the structure is the same now as it was 100 years ago at
its conception.
The time has come for major re-engineering from the ground up of
the CV. Quite simply, it does not answer the needs of todays employers
or employees.
Why has this one aspect of our careers stubbornly not changed with the
times and not died a death becoming of such an antiquated tool?
It has now, with the birth of the Elevator Pitch. This is the personal
sales strategy document designed to meet the requirements of todays
working environment and meet all of our needs, wants and desires.
How will this potentially change our lives?
The candidate
You move from selling yourself to stirring the employer to crave and
want to buy your capabilities.
A person using an Elevator Pitch shows they embrace change and turn
it to their advantage. You analyze and understand fully what is required
for the roles you are applying for.
You become better placed to position yourself in the direction you want
to go.
143
PITCH YOURSELF
The recruitment services industry

The Elevator Pitch has the potential to change the way the recruitment services industry looks to service their clients.
The Elevator Pitch encourages the recruitment services industry to look
at a candidates Transferable Assets as opposed to the current industry
sector and profession within it. It encourages them to look at
someones whole career as opposed to just a small portion. The result
is a better service to both their clients and the candidates creating a
more efficient, cost effective employment process for all concerned.
However, changes are taking place. Some recruitment agencies are
already embracing the ideas enshrined in the Elevator Pitch. They are
trailblazing the way.
As Carl Poplett, consultant of Technology Marketing Recruitment, says:
We all need to be a little more open minded and more flexible in our
approaches.
The employer
The employer gains by receiving more information than ever before in
a shorter and more concise document.
The hard work of reading then deciphering personal career information
is avoided. Gone are the days when the employer has to break the code
of your CV. The Elevator Pitch is clear and defines your edge, showing
instantly how you benefit the organization.
144
S U M M A R Y A N D C O N C LU S I O N
At a mere glance, they know who you are and how you do it.
The emphasis is placed on future performance, not the past. Greater
awareness can now be placed on Transferable Assets during the entire
selection process.
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PITCH YOURSELF
The final rallying cry

It is always nice to think we may have made our own small contribution
to helping you find and secure that great job in a more enjoyable and
exacting fashion. We hope you enjoy zagging when the world zigs.
Our own decision to share the Elevator Pitch with you began in the
summer of 2001. We had developed a number of prototypes in response
to our frustration with the standard CV. I met with Roger Wilcher, a
colleague who I first knew at the Lloyd Group Recruitment Ltd. I shared
with Roger one of my early Elevator Pitches.
He said, Bill Im surprised no other candidate has sent me an Elevator
Pitch. Which book does it come from?
Several other people, both in the headhunting and HR fields, also asked
the same question.
Now you and

they know!
146

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Pitch Yourself

Books to make you better

PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED

To Sophie my girlfriend and Brighton Beach.

Chapter 1 The death of the CV

Think and act differently 2

Chapter 2 The birth of the Elevator Pitch

The Personal Promise 33

Chapter 3 Writing your Elevator Pitch

Your Personal Promise 43

Chapter 4 The benefits of the Elevator Pitch

Chapter 5 Top-floor Elevator Pitches

How the EP answers a job brief 135

Chapter 6 Summary and conclusion

The final rallying cry 146

The rallying cry

The CV is dead. Long live the CV!

I hope it becomes the industry standard.

Jack Gratton, Founder and CEO of Major Players, the UKs

It is focused, highly targeted, concise and proven to work. It is usually just

The death of the CV

Charlie Dobres: CEO of i-Level

Think and act differently

Do you zig or zag?

Do you believe that in our overcommunicated and hectic society,

Your sales tool

The CV stripped bare

with a steady progression through the job ranks presented in reverse

The better CV stripped bare

First, basic mistakes are made

an individual successful in a given environment. Understanding your

What you expose to the world

What you hide from the world

Third, CVs arent customer friendly

Recruitment agencies are one of your many customer bases. Whether

What you expose to the world

Functional, criteria-led, linear catalogue

What you hide from the world

Your fundamental building blocks competencies

The initial gatekeeping decision to shortlist you appears to be based

have of being short listed

Conclusive and concrete evidence that competency statements provided

both criteria and competencies. At some stage, there is a change in

Emphasis your prospective employer

How you present yourself

The CVs emphasis is flawed

The CV is a lonely heart

Focus on what you want

Career mission statement

Criteria (wanted: tall,

Focus on what you are

Criteria (sought by: curvy,

CV versus lonely hearts

The CV is a blunderbuss (Figure 1.8). The CV throws mud at a wall,

Spotlights all information

You the blunderbuss

What you are

What you have done

All things to all people not on message

Job move, industry change

Mud thrown some will stick

Every product sold has an angle or positioning in the marketplace. This

Newsworthiness shown by topical anniversaries.

Chopping the corporate structure down to size